In a New York Minute
by Polaris'05
Summary: A new deputy comes to town just in time for one of Boss Hogg's new schemes to put the Duke boys in the state pen. But whose side is she on, and can the boys prove their innocence in time? COMPLETE
1. Brooklyn Calloway

_Disclaimer: don't own, except for Brooklyn Calloway!_

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**In a New York Minute**

Chapter 1: Brooklyn Calloway

_It was another ordinary day in Hazzard County. The weather was beautiful, the birds were singing, and Bo and Luke Duke were driving like madmen trying to shake Sheriff Rosco P. Coltraine from their tail. Bo Duke was in the driver's seat of their Dodge Charger (which was fondly referred to by Hazzard-ites as the General Lee) while Luke rode shotgun, keeping an eye on Rosco behind them._

"Come on, Bo!" he yelled in exasperation. "Since when can you drive any speed other than too fast?"

His cousin glared back at him through gorgeous baby blue eyes.

"I'm pushin' the General as fast as I can here, Luke. Something's wrong with him again. If I push him much faster, he's gonna fall apart right here! Is that what ya want?"

Luke was spared having to answer by Rosco's voice interrupting over the CB.

"All right, you Duke boys! Pull it over now, I'm serious this time!"

Luke laughed as he grabbed the CB.

"Rosco, when ain't ya serious when ya tell us to pull over? Look, whatever it is ya think we done, we both know me and Bo ain't done it."

"Oh yeah?" Rosco asked in what he apparently believed was a threatening manner. "Well, I got news for ya, Luke, you're in trouble this time! Khee khee! So, uh, you just tell your cousin to pull over now or I'll add 'evadin' arrest' to the charges!"

Bo took a hand off the wheel to grab the CB away from Luke.

"Rosco!" he yelled into it angrily, "me and Luke ain't got time for this! We got errands to run for Uncle Jesse and we're already runnin' late! You know he ain't gonna take kindly to ya for tryin' to slow us down! Now lay off, will ya?"

His request was answered by an angry burst of indignation from Rosco, followed by a long narrative of what the sheriff thought of low-down, no-account Dukes. Bo grinned and looked at his cousin, but sobered when he saw the look on Luke's face.

"What?" he asked defensively. "Figured it couldn't hurt to ask!"

"You just pay attention to drivin'!" Luke answered, glancing behind them. "Last thing we's needin' is to wreck and let ol' Rosco pin whatever stupid charge he's got on us this time."

"10-4, cuz," Bo said, still grinning. "Hazzard Pond is just down that road. Reckon we can lose him there." Speeding down the turnoff, Bo couldn't help but chuckle with heady adrenaline as he floored the accelerator and went barreling down the road and ramping the General up and over the small lake.

"YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAW!" Bo yelled as the General sounded "Dixie". They crashed down on the other side of the water, General Lee skidding around and fishtailing until he found his wheels again. Slowing to a stop, both cousins turned around to make sure that Rosco was alright. There was no way he had successfully made the jump – he never did – but the Duke boys always stopped to make sure that he hadn't injured himself.

"Shoot, he's fine," Luke said, smiling as he reached for the CB again. He called their friend Cooter, who also happened to own the only garage in Hazzard, to let him know that Rosco would be needing a tow. Again. Cooter was only too happy to oblige. It paid to have friends like the Dukes… as long as they stayed on the wrong side of Rosco, Cooter would never be hurting for customers.

By the time the Dukes pulled back into their farm, it was already almost noon. Jesse had been waiting for nearly an hour for the boys to get back. They had been running late due to their impromptu stop at the Boar's Nest to see their cousin Daisy, followed by Luke impatiently trying to drag Bo away from some cute girl who couldn't stop giggling and wouldn't let them leave until Bo promised to take her out on Friday night.

"Where you boys been?" Jesse asked in annoyance as soon as they came in through the kitchen. "I've been waitin' a half hour for ya so's we can start fixin' that fence in the back forty!"

"Sorry, Uncle Jesse," Bo said, pouring a glass of water. "We ran into Rosco on the way back."

Luke shook his head at his cousin's complete failure to mention that they had lost more time over Bo chasing girls than they had over being chased by Rosco. Fortunately, Jesse seemed to accept this and let the matter drop.

"What'd he say ya done this time?" he asked in disgust. Rosco was always picking on his boys, and it was getting old.

"Didn't stop to find out," Luke answered, shrugging. "Probably wanted to give us a parkin' ticket for stoppin' to let Miz Tizdale cross the road or somethin' like that."

Jesse shook his head. Sad as that was, he wouldn't put it past Rosco to do exactly that.

"Well, we ain't got time to be messin' with him today," he said standing up. "Come on boys, we got work to be doin'. Let's go."

Obediently, the boys jumped to their feet and headed out the door. Just as they were walking past the General to get to the back border of their property, however, the CB crackled to life.

"Breaker one, breaker one. Might be crazy, but I ain't dumb! Craaaaaaaazy Cooter comin' at ya! Any of you Dukes got your ears on? Come back."

Luke grabbed the CB. "Yeah, this here's Luke. What's goin' on, Cooter?"

"Hey there, Lukas Dukas! Listen, figured I'd go ahead and warn y'all, y'all got some company headed up to see ya."

"Who? Rosco? Dang, he really does wanna get us for somethin'."

Bo grabbed the CB from Luke again as Jesse shifted impatiently. The last thing they needed was Rosco trying to stir up trouble again.

"Cooter, is Rosco-"

"It ain't Rosco, fellas." Cooter's voice interrupted Bo. The three Dukes stared at each other in confusion.

"Well then… if it's not the sheriff, who is it?" Bo asked, trying to think who else would be on their way to the farm that Cooter would call ahead and warn them about.

They could practically hear Cooter's grin through the CB as he answered. "It's a girl."

"Chrys?" Bo guessed, thinking of the pretty girl he'd met at the Boar's Nest earlier. Luke rolled his eyes and punched his cousin's arm.

"Nope, guess again," Cooter said gleefully. This time it was Jesse's turn to grab the mike away from Bo. His patience was wearing thin and they were still nowhere nearer fixing the fence. It didn't look like they were going to get any closer any time soon, either.

"Cooter, we ain't got time for games! What's goin' on here?"

"New deputy, Uncle Jesse. Rosco just swore her in this morning, apparently. Seems like Boss Hogg and Rosco have already told her all about you folks. She stopped by the garage this mornin' to ask about you. I tried to set her straight of course, but I ain't sure how much good it did. Anyways, I told Rosco it'd be a couple hours to fix his patrol car, so he just up an' sent this new deputy of his after y'all instead. I tried to call y'all earlier, but I only just now got Rosco to wait somewhere's else. She's probably nearly there by now, she took off outta here like a bat outta hell when Rosco told her where to go."

Great, Luke thought. Just what they needed. Another deputy who, by the sound of things, had already decided to be against them.

"Cooter, any idea what Rosco wants us for this time?" Luke asked, back in possession of the CB mike.

"That's a negative, buddyro. If it's anythin' bad though, ya might wanna get a move on. She's got a good head start on ya."

"Alright, much obliged, Cooter. We're gone."

"10-4 buddyro, I'm gone too."

Luke tossed the mike back into the General and looked to Uncle Jesse. The older man sighed, knowing that his fence wouldn't be fixed that day.

"Hey, uh, Luke?" Bo said impatiently. "How about us just findin' somewhere else to be for a while?"

"Too late," Luke groaned, looking over Bo's shoulder at the drive where a patrol car was already pulling up. "That sure didn't take long. Whatever it is that Rosco thinks he's got on us, he sure is in a hurry to get us arrested."

The Dukes stood together and watched as the patrol car made its way towards the General. Jesse instinctively stepped in front of the boys. If they had to make a run for it, at least he could try to give them a little time to get away. Any deputy that Rosco and Boss were happy to get could only mean trouble for anyone with the name of Duke. He tensed slightly as the car stopped and the new Hazzard County deputy stepped out.

Had the circumstances been different, Bo would have been more than pleased to meet this girl. She was very attractive, with her dark hair and grey eyes. What struck him, however, was her charisma. She couldn't have been much older than himself, and was certainly younger than Luke, but she carried herself with a kind of mysterious aura. After getting out of the car, she merely stood without speaking, observing each of the Duke family in turn. When her gaze fell on him, Bo found himself to be, inexplicably, blushing. It wasn't an uncomfortable stare that she was giving him, but she seemed to be looking through him instead of at him and he wasn't at all sure that he liked it. He stared back defiantly, but her face was unreadable, her eyes guarded.

After a short pause, the new deputy seemed to come to a conclusion. Her masked expression suddenly dropped and she smiled. The effect was amazing. Her face seemed to warm up immediately, giving her a much friendlier appearance. She stepped towards Uncle Jesse.

"Mr. Duke?" she asked politely. Jesse stared at her with a slight frown. Her accent was that of a city dweller, and decidedly northern. Perfect, he thought. Not just a new deputy, a new Yankee deputy.

"That's right," he answered her suspiciously.

"Would you do me a favor and hand me the keys to your car there?" she asked politely. "I need to talk to you all and I'd rather you boys not take off on me."

Jesse nodded at Bo, who grudgingly leaned into the General and pulled the keys out of the ignition. He tossed them to the deputy, who caught them deftly and stuck them in her jacket pocket. She turned back to Jesse and extended her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said. "Deputy Brooklyn Calloway."

_Well, friends, I just don't know what to make of this. What do y'all reckon a pretty little Yankee like that is doing working for Boss and Rosco?_

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_A/N: Hey guys, how am I doing so far? It's my first try here, so reviews are welcome and helpful. Please review, it would really make my day! Thanks!_

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	2. Getting To Know You

Chapter 2: Getting to Know You

Jesse stared at the lady shaking his hand. Her smile seemed genuine, and she looked pleasant enough so far, but he knew better than to trust anyone on looks alone. She was still a Yankee, after all, and she had been sent by Rosco. He decided that polite aloofness was the best track.

"Pleasure," he responded noncommittally. Calloway nodded and turned her stunning smile on Bo next.

"_Brooklyn?_" the youngest Duke asked in amused disbelief. "Your name is Brooklyn? Your parents certainly had a sense of humor." Beside him, Luke and Jesse both cringed. So much for polite aloofness. Both instinctively turned towards Calloway to see how she would react. To Jesse's relief, her smile remained unwavering.

"I'm sure they did," Brooklyn responded easily, no trace of anger or annoyance in her voice. "though," she added, "I'm pretty sure your parents did too, _Beauregard_."

At the sight of Bo's face, Luke couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Ha ha! She's got ya there, cuz!"

Bo glared at him then turned scowling back to Brooklyn. "It's Bo," he said.

"Brooke," the deputy answered, extending her hand to the youngest Duke. He studied her with suspicion, then grinned in spite of himself and took her hand.

"Fair enough," he said amiably. Luke elbowed him out of the way to introduce himself.

"Luke Duke," Deputy Brooke said as they grasped hands. It was not a question.

"Yes, ma'am," Luke answered. He had been studying her, as he could see that she was studying them. His time in the Marines had taught him a lot about people, but this girl was an enigma. A northern city girl working and living in Hazzard county was strange enough, but this was even stranger. A deputy working for Hogg but seemingly friendly as can be… well, it wasn't unheard of. After all, Enos was a very decent man, and Cletus hadn't been too bad. Could it be that her outward friendliness was genuine? On the other hand, she had rushed right over at Rosco's bidding. Remembering this, Luke frowned and withdrew his hand.

"If you don't mind my askin', ma'am, what exactly are you doin' out here?"

"Oh, Rosco sent me to arrest you both," she answered calmly. Jesse winced at the complete casualty of her voice. It was simply a fact, and she was stating it. He had just been warming up to her, but he instantly put his guard back up, feeling slightly deceived.

"Now you just hold on a minute, Deputy Calloway! I don't know what J.D. or Rosco done told ya, but my boys ain't done nothin' wrong!"

Brooke blinked and looked at him, about to say something in reply when Bo jumped in.

"Yeah, they're always framin' us for something! Didn't even ask us for our side of the story though, did ya?" Bo was angry. He had began to like the look of this girl, but she was apparently no better than the other lawmen in Hazzard after all, and he hated being proven wrong.

"That's right," Jesse continued angrily. "Well, you can just clear out of here, missie, cause you ain't got no business arrestin' my nephews! There's enough prejudice in this world without you turnin' against us afore you even get to hear what they got to say!"

Brooke tried to speak again, but Luke took over the angry tirade.

"Look, _whatever_ it is that we're supposed to have done now, we've been busy all day. We went right from here to Rhuebottom's store to the Boar's Nest, and then back here again. And we got _witnesses_ who'll back us up on that."

"And I'll tell you another thing," Bo started, intent on explaining to Brooke exactly what he thought about her coming down from her big city in the north to interfere with their small town lives. Before he could continue, however, Brooke held up her hand.

The deputy waited a minute before speaking. _Well, I guess I should have expected this_, she thought to herself. Her friends in New York had all warned her that the southerners would not take kindly to her presence, but her smile had never failed to win people over completely. She was perfectly well aware of her best asset and she took full advantage of the fact. After all, that was how she had gotten the deputy position in the first place. Why were these people so suspicious of her? She studied the family in front of her again, wondering if her initial assessment had been off somehow.

"Mr. Duke, is there somewhere we can all sit down?" she asked finally. The older man looked puzzled, as though he had been expecting a much different response. Brooke wondered briefly how police visits to this farm normally took place.

"Come along inside, then," Jesse answered grudgingly.

The three Dukes and the deputy all moved inside to the living room. Jesse seated himself in his easy chair with a sigh, as the boys took their seats on the couch. Brooke sat in a chair across from the cousins and studied them yet again. This time she waited until she could feel their impatience before she began speaking.

"First of all, I want to clear the air between us. We seem to have gotten off to a bad start."

"Well, whatdya expect, when ya come chargin' in here accusin' us of whatever your accusin' us of?" Bo demanded.

"What exactly _are_ ya chargin' us with anyways?" Luke asked, realizing suddenly that they still didn't know why they were being arrested.

"Robbing one of Hogg's armored cars, according to Rosco."

"Always the armored cars," Luke muttered to himself. It was always one of two things: either the armored cars or the bank. He suddenly found himself wishing that once, just once, Boss would come up with something a bit more original.

"And you may notice," Brooke continued suddenly, swiveling around to look at Bo, "that I did _not_ accuse you. I said Rosco sent me to arrest you two. _I'm _not accusing you of anything."

Her statement was met by silence. Luke found himself puzzled again over the strange girl. He just couldn't quite figure out which side she was on. Bo sat back, looking a little chagrined, but Jesse merely counted his blessings. He didn't know what was going on with this deputy either, but he wasn't willing to argue over the matter if she wasn't accusing his nephews of robbing this mysterious armored car.

"Now look," Brooke said, turning to Jesse this time. "I've done plenty of background checking on all of you. I know about your run-in with the government, and I don't know if that's why you seem to have such a problem with the law around here or if that has something to do with another story. But I can see quite plainly that you're against me. Now, I have to know, is that because I'm a police deputy or because I'm a New York Yank?"

Jesse regarded her thoughtfully. "Look, missie, where you're from isn't what's botherin' us. I suppose we're against you because we thought Rosco and J.D. had got ya turned against us afore we had a chance to defend ourselves."

"You never gave _me_ a chance," Brooke said. For the first time Luke saw a chink in her emotional armor as a hint of anger and frustration slipped out in her voice. "I only got here this morning. I hadn't met any of you until I showed up not ten minutes ago. What do you think I'm doing here if not to get your side of the story? Why do you think I jumped at the chance when Rosco asked me to come get your boys? After all I've heard about you, I couldn't wait to actually see for myself if everything they say about you is true."

The Dukes looked at the floor guiltily. It was true, they _had _assumed a lot about her. What she was saying did make sense.

"The fact is," the deputy continued, "you people are the ones with a prejudice. You see my uniform and assume I'm corrupt. You hear my accent and assume I'm going to look down on you. I came out to your farm specifically to give you a chance to prove Boss and the sheriff wrong about you, and you accuse me of not being willing to get to know you before judging you."

"Look, we's jus' lookin' out for ourselves," Jesse said gently. He knew the northerner was right, of course, but he also knew that after all the times that Rosco and Boss had had them set up, they had the right to be suspicious of people sent by him.

"Yeah, you have to understand the way things work around here," Bo said. "We've ended up on the wrong side of Boss Hogg's schemes a few too many times."

Brooke leaned back in her chair and studied the Dukes yet again. She knew what she was doing was technically manipulation... the careful hint of emotion that she allowed to slip through, the way she placed the blame on a common enemy, all working to gain their trust. She couldn't help it, and it wasn't planned. It simply came naturally. This, however, was getting frustrating. She didn't know it, of course, but the Dukes were just as confusing to her as she was to them. Analyzing people also came naturally to her. It might be a cold, calculating type of gift, but it could come in handy living in a place like New York. It never took her this long to figure people out. Closing her eyes, Brooke took a few calming breaths. She couldn't let emotions get in the way of her analysis, or she might miss some important clue to the character of the two boys and their elderly uncle. She mentally shifted through her thoughts and decided to go with her original conclusion as to the Dukes.

"Like I said, I've done some background checking on you all. You seem to have a lot of friends in town," Here she paused briefly, recalling the conversation she'd had with the funny little mechanic who seemed quite indignant at her hints that the Dukes could possibly have anything to do with illegal activities. "I believe you. I want to make that perfectly clear. I don't think you two had anything to do with that robbery."

"But you're going to arrest them anyways?" Jesse asked resignedly.

"No, of course not. I just said, didn't I? I know they didn't do it."

Bo and Luke exchanged confused glances. This wasn't how things usually turned out for them. Cletus was never bright enough to figure out that they were innocent, and Enos was too devoted to his job to just let them go.

Brooke glanced down at her watch. Her job was done. She could see it in their eyes – they were starting to believe what she was telling them. It was time to get out before they changed their minds.

"Gentlemen, I have to be going now. It really was a pleasure getting to have this little chat. Good day." With that she got up and walked outside into the summer sun. She turned around to see that the Dukes had followed her, still trying to puzzle out what was going on.

"You're really ain't arresting us?" Bo asked. "Ain't you gonna get in a heap of trouble?"

"Yeah, Boss ain't gonna be happy if you come back empty-handed," Luke said with a touch of concern.

"Well," Brooke said, surprising them with a mischievous grin. "From what I gather, that's how most deputies come back after chasing you two." With that, she tossed the keys to the General at Bo, got into her patrol car, and drove away leaving behind three very confused Dukes.

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In a back room of the Boar's Nest a short, fat man in a completely white suit was pacing back and forth as Sheriff Rosco watched.

"Now, look here, Rosco," Boss Hogg said. "this here plan of mine ain't gonna work if you can't even get a hold of the Duke boys long enough for me to let them go again!"

Rosco scratched his head. His little fat buddy sure did have some strange ideas. "Uh, Boss, why exactly would we want to let the Duke boys go once we finally catch them?"

"Rosco, I've explained this to ya a hundred times!" Boss sighed in frustration. It was difficult being as clever as he was when all he had to work with was people like Rosco. "We're framin' the boys for stealin' that armored truck of mine, remember? Well, if we're gonna make a case against 'em, we need to _catch_ 'em with it!"

"And we're gonna do that by puttin' them in the hoosegaw?" Rosco asked, still not understanding.

"No, you dipstick!" Boss Hogg stopped pacing and wandered over to his desk. His frustration was getting the better of him, and now he needed something to eat. Reaching into the top drawer of his desk, he pulled out the makings for a humongous sandwich. As he was lathering a piece of bread with a layer of mayonnaise that was at least an inch thick, he turned back to his unfortunate sheriff.

"Now look, Rosco. That armored truck by itself is small potatoes. I don't use it officially anymore. But in the back, it's filled to burstin' with all them artifacts that Walters and Slade have been stealin' from those bigshot museums in Atlanta!"

Rosco nodded, watching with a watering mouth as Hogg continued working on his sandwich. It now resembled a miniature buffet line.

"Rosco, what's the first thing the Duke boys _always_ do when we put 'em in jail?"

"They break out…" Rosco answered miserably.

"Exactly! Now, we're gonna arrest them Dukes for hijacking that truck. Of course, they're gonna want to prove they ain't had anythin' to do with it. So once we let 'em bust outta here, they're gonna go huntin' for that truck so they can bring it back here. That's when we're gonna get 'em!" Boss laughed maniacally and took a huge bite out of his sandwich. It was going to be a good day. Rosco scratched his head again.

"Ok, Boss, if you say this idea of yours is gonna work, I guess it will."

"You're damn right it will!" Hogg exclaimed through a mouth full of food. "Uh, you _did_ toss the key to the back of the truck into the General Lee like I told you to do, didn't you?"

"Yes, Boss," Rosco answered gleefully. "Khee khee! Just tossed it right in to their back seat! I paid some girl in the Boar's Nest to keep 'em occupied, so they ain't seen me do it neither!"

The door to Boss's office suddenly burst open. Hogg swiveled around as two suspicious looking young men walked in.

_Now, friends, this here is Walters and Slade, Boss's henchmen. Walters and Slade had been working together for weeks, acquisitioning all the stolen artifacts that now sat in the back of the armored truck. When Boss came to them nearly a month ago with this job, they didn't see any reason why they should let the little fat man get seventy percent of the reward money when they was the ones doing all the work. So, of course, they had made their own plans to double cross him. But don't y'all worry none. Boss is wily._

"Boss, we got a problem!" one of the men burst out as they came charging through the door.

"Oh, what is it now?" Boss asked grumpily. He was going to need another sandwich.

"The keys to the back of the truck are gone!" the other man yelled indignantly. "Now, we know you had them last, what'dya do with 'em?"

Boss laughed evilly. His planning had paid off, it seemed.

_You see, folks, after years of being frequently double-crossed by his own double-crossers, ol' Hogg has finally got it figured to keep his merchandise out of reach of his own goonies._

"Now, why would y'all be needin' a key to the back of the truck?" Boss asked innocently. "It's all loaded and ready to go. You ain't needin' anything outta there, so the key stays somewhere safe! This way I know y'all ain't gonna be takin' off with my new plan in the back of your car! Now y'all get back out to the mill. The boys'll be lookin' high and low for that truck once they break outta jail, and you just better be there when they get there! Now git!"

Looking murderously at Boss Hogg and muttering to themselves, Walters and Slade slouched out the door of Hogg's office. Boss rubbed his hands together gleefully. He could practically feel the reward money in his fat little hands. Yes, he decided. It was going to be a very good day.

_Friends and neighbors, I sure don't like where this is headin'. Y'all stick around!_

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_A/N: Hey guys, how am I doing so far? It's my first try here, so reviews are welcome and helpful. Please review, it would really make my day! Thanks!_

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	3. Investigation

_Disclaimer: Don't own, except for Brooklyn Calloway!_

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Chapter 3: Investigation

Back at the Duke farm, the boys and Uncle Jesse were having a family meeting around the kitchen table. They had gotten a lucky break when Deputy Brooke left, but they knew it was only a matter of time before Rosco came back for them, and they decided to use the time to come up with some sort of plan.

"I swear, you boys git yerselves into more trouble than a whole pack of baby raccoons," Jesse said gruffly as he passed the boys some lunch.

"Uncle Jesse, what if we just went to town and talked to Rosco?" Bo asked hopefully. His cousin turned to him with a look of concern.

"You been out in the sun too long, Bo?" Luke demanded. "Has Rosco ever listened when we tried to explain things? You know that ain't gonna do no good."

Bo shrugged and muttered, "Just a thought."

Luke shook his head. He still wasn't entirely sure about Brooke, but right now she wasn't the more pressing problem. The question was how they were going to prove that they hadn't had anything to do with any kind of hijacking. What worried Luke the most was the fact that there wasn't the slightest bit of proof against them – at least none that he could see. Usually when Boss Hogg was setting them up, he had evidence planted somewhere. But where could an armored truck have been planted on the Duke farm? They had checked the barn first off, and then the majority of the land that they owned. There was no truck in sight. That meant one of two things: either Boss was playing a bluff for some end that Luke had yet to figure out, or there was some kind of evidence other than the truck hidden somewhere.

"Well, here's the way I see it," he finally said out loud. Bo looked up from his food, his face brightening. He knew Luke would know what to do. He always did.

"Even Rosco and Boss wouldn't try arrestin' us unless they've got some kind of proof. Now obviously, the truck isn't here. Maybe if we can figure out what did happen to it, we can clear all of this up."

Bo shrugged. It was a good plan: simple and obvious. That was how he liked them. He looked to Uncle Jesse. "What do you think? Me and Luke can get to Cooter's without bein' seen. Maybe he's seen or heard somethin' that can help?"

Jesse looked thoughtful. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to try, but you boys be careful, ya hear me? Jus' don't go bitin' off more than you can chew."

"No problem, Uncle Jesse," Bo answered with a grin. "We can keep our noses clean for thirty minutes!"

Under his breath, Jesse muttered "I seriously doubt that," as Bo and Luke jumped up from the table and headed outside. Racing to the General, Bo leapt into the driver's seat as Luke slid over the hood of the car to hop in the other side. They sped off towards town hoping optimistically to clear away the whole fiasco in time for dinner.

"Whadya think, cuz?" Bo asked when they were clear of the driveway. "You really think Cooter will have heard somethin' that can help?"

"If anybody has, it's Cooter," Luke answered confidently. "You know you can see everything that happens in town from his garage." He thought in silence for a minute. "You know what would also help is to go talk to Emery at the bank an' see what exactly Boss had on that truck."

"Good thinkin' cuz," Bo answered as he swung the car onto a side road that would take them behind Cooter's garage.

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"Hey Cooter! Pssst! Cooter!"

The mechanic looked up from the engine he had been in the process of taking apart when he heard his name being called. Glancing around in confusion, his face broke into a grin when he saw Bo poking his head through the back door of his garage.

"Hey there, Bo! What's goin' on?"

"We're in some trouble again," Luke answered, shoving Bo through the door and closing it tightly behind them. "We need yer help."

"Well, ya know ya got it!" Cooter said happily, wiping his greasy hands off on a rag. "What can I do?"

"Right now all we needs is information. You hear anything on your CB about an armored truck leavin' from here this mornin'?"

Cooter frowned. "Ain't been anythin' on the police channels about it, nah. Funny you should ask though… Remember I told you that new deputy girl was in here this mornin'? She was askin' about the same thing."

"Yeah, what didja tell her 'bout us anyway, Cooter?" Bo asked with a smile.

"Ah, she was askin' all kinds of crazy things 'bout y'all. What kind of peoples y'all were and stuff. But she asked specifically if I believed y'all woulda had anythin' to do with hijackin' an armored truck. I told her ain't no way in hell y'all would be involved in that."

"Thanks, Cooter!" Bo exclaimed, punching his friend lightly on the arm. He turned to Luke. "Well, what now?"

Luke thought for a minute. Everyone was after that armored truck, but no one knew anything about it. Brooklyn was asking townspeople whether they thought the Dukes were guilty. Well, it was possible Boss hadn't let her in on the scheme, at least not first thing in the morning. But that meant even the law hadn't actually seen the truck. That was what they needed more than anything – to find the truck itself.

"Cooter, can you do us a favor?" he asked finally.

"You jus' name it," Cooter answered comfortably. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for the Duke boys.

"We're gonna have to find that truck. If you can start lookin', me and Bo are gonna go talk to Emery, see if he knows anythin'. Just check all the places you'd hide somethin' if you were Boss. Me and Bo'll do the same once we've been to the bank."

"Sure thing, buddyro. Y'all just be careful."

"Yeah, thanks Cooter!" Bo called as Cooter headed outside to his truck.

"Come on, let's go see Emery," Luke said, pushing Bo back out the back door. Cautiously, he poked his head around the corner. Other than the typical Hazzard passerby doing their weekend shopping, there was no one in sight. "Alright, go!" he hissed. Together, he and Bo made a dash for the bank. They reached it at the same time and flattened themselves against the alcove wall of the bank's front door.

"Safe," Bo exclaimed, panting slightly. He tugged at the door, then frowned when it refused to open. "What the-"

"Come on, cuz!" Luke prodded impatiently. "Did ya forget how them things work?"

"I know how to open a door, Luke. It's locked!"

"Locked?"

"Yeah, see for yourself!"

Luke pulled hard on the door handles. Sure enough, the heavy doors were locked and bolted. "Well, that don't make no sense. Why on earth would the bank be locked up?" Checking the street again, Luke carefully made his way over to the window. Pressing his face close to the glass, he gazed intently inside the bank.

"Woah!" he yelled, jumping backwards as the face of Emery Potter suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Oh, hey Luke! Hey Bo!" the chief teller called through the window.

"Hey there, Emery!" Bo answered with a grin. "You gonna let us in 'fore Luke here has a heart attack?"

Emery fumbled around with the door lock and stood back as the Duke boys hurried inside. Luke breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind them.

"Well, I sure didn' mean to scare ya like that, Luke,"

"It's alright, Emery, just took me by surprise. Look, we're sorry to barge in like this, we just don't wanna let Boss or Rosco see us. They're up to their usual tricks again."

"Sorry to hear that, fellas," Emery said. "but if you tryin' to avoid them two, whatcha doin' here? We're closed ya know."

The boys stopped and looked at each other in confusion. Boss Hogg's bank closed? The bank was open every single day, even though most banks closed on weekends. Boss had yet to catch on that just because they were open on Saturdays didn't mean anyone was going to come and put money in to add to the profit of his beloved bank.

"Funny, Boss never closes the bank. Whatcha still doin' here if you're closed, though?"

Emery glanced around nervously before he answered. "Well, ya see boys, Boss Hogg don't exactly know the bank is closed, know what I mean? But we cain't do any business anyhows. It was Miss Brooklyn's idea that we just pretend like we're open so Boss wouldn't find out what happened and get mad at Rosco."

"Why can't ya do any business?" Bo asked.

"Deputy Brooklyn was here?" Luke asked at the same time. That girl had certainly had a busy morning.

Emery gestured towards the back. "Her and Rosco come in this mornin'. I think he musta been showin' her around the town, ya know? Well, he's braggin' about Boss Hogg's brand new time-locked vault, so she goes and has a look inside, but when she come back out again, Rosco accidentally knocks it closed. Now we cain't get in until tomorrow when it opens at 8:00."

"I thought you could just open it with a combination?" Bo asked in confusion. The vault had accidentally been closed before, with Uncle Jesse and Boss Hogg locked inside, but they had managed to open it with Emery's help.

"Can't, Bo," Emery answered sadly. "It's a new lock, I don't know the combination yet. Boss is the only one who's got it, and nobody wanted to go ask him. Anyhow, we ain't never doin' business on Saturday anyways. That's how come I locked the front door there, didn't figure on anyone droppin' by." He stopped and looked at them curiously. "By the way, you never did say why y'all are here."

_Well, Luke went ahead and told Emery all about what had happened and asked him if he knew anything about that truck, or what it was carryin'. The idea was if'n they knew what they was up against, maybe they could figure out what they was lookin' for. Unfortunately for the Dukes, ol' Emery ain't seen any armored truck all day._

"Sorry, Luke," Emery apologized. "We never get trucks on Saturdays." Luke and Bo exchanged glances.

"Well, do ya know when the last truck left Hazzard?"

Emery frowned, thinking hard. "We did have a truck pass through on Thursday, but I know Ernie, the driver. He would've made it back to Atlanta by the time the dust settled from him takin' off. Ain't no trucks been here since then. An' I've been here every day this week. Nah, if y'all hijacked an armored truck this mornin', then I'm a polka-dotted goat, 'cause there just ain't been any trucks in Hazzard to steal."

Bo turned to Luke. "Then just what the heck is Boss playin' at? How's he gonna prove we stole somethin' that don't even exist?"

"I don't know," Luke answered, "but I s'pose we could head over to the Boar's Nest, maybe Daisy's heard somethin'." Bo nodded and the two headed for the door.

"Thanks, Emery!" Bo called as they headed out. "Good luck with the vault!"

"Thanks, fellas!" Emery answered ruefully.

Luke chuckled as he and Bo snuck their way back to Cooter's garage to get the General. Glancing over his shoulder, he pulled the door open and the boys slipped inside.

"Alright, freeeeeeeze!"

_Well, let me tell you, Bo and Luke sure froze. Now how 'bout that? Looks like ol' Rosco has finally got a step ahead._

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_A/N: Hey y'all! Reviews please? Pretty please? Thanks!_

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	4. Caught

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys! This chapter is kind of short and doesn't have much Bo and Luke in it, but don't worry they'll be back._

_Disclaimer: Don't own, except for Brooklyn Calloway!_

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Chapter 4- Caught

"Rosco, this ain't fair!" Bo complained as he and Luke were herded into the cell. "You know you can't prove we done anythin' wrong!"

"Now, you just hush, Bo Duke, I gotcha this time! Khee khee!" The chuckling sheriff was obviously beside himself with glee. To actually catch the Dukes was such a rare occasion for him, and he wanted to savor the moment. It almost hurt to remember that he was supposed to let them escape…it didn't seem fair somehow, but it was what Boss wanted.

"Boss!" he called as he locked the cell door and casually placed the keys on a small end table, which was sitting well within the boys' reach. "Boss, I got 'em! You were right, they headed straight for Cooter's!"

"What?" Boss's voice came from the office. "Oh! Good job, Rosco! I knew I could count on you. Now git in here, will ya?"

"Coming, little fat buddy!" Rosco answered happily, rubbing his hands together like a small child in a candy store.

As Rosco went strutting away into the other room, Luke eyed the keys sitting just two feet away. The Duke boys looked at each other and grinned. Sometimes, it was just too easy.

In the office, Boss Hogg and Rosco had their ears pressed against the door. Rosco had to suppress the urge to laugh as they heard the quiet clinking of keys in a lock and the squeaking of the jail cell door sliding open. The Dukes would never suspect that they were being allowed to escape. And why should they? After all, they managed to do so well enough without any help at all from Rosco.

After waiting a minute or two to give the boys enough time to get back to Cooter's to pick up their car, Rosco peaked around the office door. "Khee khee! They're gone, little fat buddy!"

"Good, good," Boss cackled. "Now all we have to do is wait. They'll go lookin' all over for my truck, and when they try to drive away in it, that's when we'll nab 'em!"

He laughed again, thoroughly pleased with his plan. Rosco, however, wasn't as confident as Boss Hogg was.

"But Boss, uh, what happens if they can't _find_ the truck?" he asked in concern.

"Hm? Well, why shouldn' they find it?"

"Well, it's just that you've got it hid over in Choctaw, what if they don' look over there?"

"Rosco," Boss said, squinting at his sheriff. "Have the Duke boys ever _not_ figured out where our hideouts are?"

Rosco sat back and thought for a moment. Boss had a point, he conceded to himself. Somehow or another, in ways utterly incomprehensible to him, Bo and Luke always managed to stumble in on Boss's operations.

"Exactly," Boss said, seeing the light click on for Rosco. He settled back in his chair. Waiting was the easy part. He could wait until the end of time if it meant finally nailing the Dukes.

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Cooter had been driving fairly aimlessly around Hazzard for over an hour. He had yet to see any armored truck or, for that matter, any car he didn't recognize working on before. Maybe the truck just didn't exist. It troubled Cooter, though… Boss had come up with some insane plots before, but he wasn't stupid. Something else was going on, but Cooter couldn't figure what it might be. And he still couldn't find that truck!

Although Cooter didn't know, he wasn't actually that far away from it. Slade and Walters had left the truck hidden at one of Boss's old still sites in Hazzard while they headed to the Boar's Nest in Walters's car. They were only just now on their way back to Choctaw county, with Slade in the truck and Walters trailing behind in case they ran into trouble. Which, in the end, was very fortunate for Slade.

Cooter was on the verge of turning back for his garage to call up the boys and see if they had had any more luck than him, when he suddenly slammed hard on the brakes of his tow truck. He glanced in his rearview mirror again, hardly able to believe it. What were the odds…. after an entire afternoon of searching high and low for a truck he had been starting to doubt the existence of, one had just turned on to the main road behind him.

"I got you now, boy," Cooter muttered to himself with a chuckle as he hopped out of his truck. Unable to get around Cooter's tow truck, the armored car was forced to come to a screeching halt as it rounded the bend.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" the driver snarled as Cooter walked up to him. Slade realized suddenly why he looked so familiar. When Boss Hogg had pointed out the Dukes to him and Walters, Cooter had also been standing there with Bo and Luke. Hogg had warned them that the mechanic might get involved.

"What the hell are you doing?" Slade demanded again.

"Sheriff's lookin' for a stolen armored truck," Cooter answered, narrowing his eyes at Slade. "You mind tellin' me where you're headin' to?"

Slade tried not to look too nervous. This wasn't part of the plan. He and Walters hadn't thought of what they would say if they were caught with the truck. "Um….. Atlanta," he said, wondering if he could reach the gun in the passenger seat without Cooter noticing. If the mechanic didn't buy his story, he could always just shoot him, but something told him that would _not_ go over well with Boss Hogg.

"Oh, are you Emery Potter?" Cooter asked innocently.

"Yeah! Yeah, that's right," Slade answered in relief. _Stupid redneck_, he thought to himself. _He just gave me a cover story._ Slade was feeling pleased with himself when the truck door was suddenly yanked open and two strong hands pulled him out of the truck.

From his vantage point through the trees, Walters watched with interest as the man from the tow truck proceeded to fight with Slade. Or, more accurately, he watched as Slade got the daylights beaten out of him. When Slade had slammed on his breaks, Walters had been smart enough to hang back just around the bend in the road so he could see what was going on before jumping in. He sighed heavily. His partner in crime apparently had neither the brains nor the brawn of their operation. Walters supposed he really _should_ step in – the mechanic apparently hadn't seen him – but he was getting such a good show.

_Suppose I COULD just let Slade take it,_ Walters thought with a small amount of amusement. _After all, he'd probably do the same_. On the other hand, they were wasting time and Walters didn't want to jeopardize the scheme – or his cut of the profit. Pulling out his pistol, he got out of the car and strode over to the armored truck where Slade and Cooter were fighting.

_Now friends, this is why we don' like them bad boys. Ol' Cooter could take 'em both in a fair fight, but that Walters there is sneakin' up on him, AND he has a gun. Now that ain't fair._

"Alright, boy. You just hold it right there." Cooter froze, his fist still pulled back and his hand around a fistful of the driver's shirt. He gulped as he felt the cold metal of a gun brush the back of his neck. So, there were two of them. He decided the other one must have been following in a car.

"Now, you let him go, then get down on the ground." Slowly, Cooter started to comply. As soon as he had let go of Slade, however, the armored truck driver reared back and sank a vicious right hook into the side of Cooter's head. The mechanic fell to the ground, seeing stars as Slade laughed evilly.

"That'll teach ya, grease monkey! Walters, it's that mechanic friend of the Dukes."

"Yeah, Slade, I know who he is. The tow truck was a pretty big hint. I'll watch him, you go get some rope out of his truck there."

Cooter blinked, shaking his head to clear the fuzziness. That was going to leave a black eye, he was sure of that. As he felt his arms being pulled behind him and his hands bound together, Cooter sighed and hoped it wouldn't take too long for Bo and Luke to figure out he was missing and come find him. He wasn't afraid of the two crooks – he'd been in worse situations before – but it looked like he was going to be mighty uncomfortable for a while.

"Y'all know the Dukes ain't gonna let you get away with any of this," he commented matter-of-factly.

"Shut up!" Slade yelled, kicking him in the stomach. He shoved a rag into Cooter's mouth, which shut him up quite effectively.

"Now what?" Slade complained, turning to his partner. "We weren't supposed to be seen! He's gone an' screwed up the entire plan!"

"Not completely," Walters said thoughtfully. "He's just made it more complicated. Put him in the car trunk. I'll get Boss on the CB and find out what he wants us to do with this one."

Cooter shook his head. So it _was_ Boss behind all this. He was pulled roughly to his feet and marched over to the car that had appeared while he was busy fighting the truck driver. Slade smirked at him as he shoved him into the car trunk and slammed the lid, leaving Cooter in darkness.

"Alright, let's move on out," Walters commanded. Slade got back in the armored truck as Walters started the car up. The CB was set to a rarely used channel that Boss had told them to reach him on in case of trouble. This definitely counted as trouble.

"Hey Boss, you out there?" he called into the CB.

"Yeah, Hogg here."

"Listen, Boss, we got a problem. That mechanic friend of the Dukes found us. He nearly ruined the whole scheme, but we got him. Now what do we do with him?"

"Cooter Davenport?" Boss asked in surprise. "Darn it, I _warned_ you he might show up! Guess the Duke boys had him helpin' with the search. Well, it's still-"

"Boss," Walters interrupted. "This thing keeps getting hotter for me and Slade. He's seen us now, he could identify us. We're only a couple miles from Hazzard Pond. Want us to take care of him?"

"No, no!" Boss said quickly. "No, don't do that. Just… just hold on to him for now. I ain't havin' anyone killed. No, once the Duke boys find out their buddy's missin' they'll show up that much quicker. Now you just head on back to the Choctaw mill and wait for them there. They'll find ya eventually, one way or another."

"10-4, Boss. We should be able to hear them Dukes comin' across the railroad tracks, so we'll give you a call on the CB before they reach the mill."

"You do that. I'm gone."

On the opposite side of Hazzard County, Deputy Brooklyn Calloway was gone too. Her angry gray eyes flashed as she pushed the patrol car as fast as its tiny engine would carry it. It was a good thing she had checked which channel Boss was using before leaving earlier… she had known it would pay off to monitor him.

"Come on, boys, don't let me down," Brooke muttered as she picked up the CB mike and switched channels.

"Calling the Lost Sheep… Calling the Lost Sheep. Are either of you two there?"

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_A/N: So yeah, I know it's a pretty short chapter but I'd really appreciate the reviews! Comments are helpful, critical or otherwise. Thanks y'all!_

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	5. Lost

_A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, guys. They really help out! As promised, this chapter is a bit longer and it's got Bo and Luke in it! Yay!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own, except for Brooklyn. She's mine._

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Chapter 5 - Lost

Cooter blinked against the blinding light as the trunk lid was opened. Slade and Walters both stood there, leering down at him. Cooter was pleased to see that Slade's face already looked much worse than his own felt.

"Well, here we are. Did you have a nice ride?" Slade asked with a sneer. Cooter would have loved to say something quite rude, but the gag prevented him from speaking. He settled instead to glare at his captors and, on being heaved forcibly out of the trunk, kick out as hard as he could at Slade. He caught the armored truck driver in the lower belly and watching in satisfaction as his adversary grunted in agony and doubled over on the ground. Cooter spun, ready to give Walters the same treatment, but was forced to stop short as Walters once again leveled his gun at Cooter's head.

"Now, now," Walters said silkily. "We don't need any of that." He glanced down at his partner. "Get up," he snapped impatiently. "We still have work to do."

"Easy for you to say," Slade gasped out. "Can I kill him? Please?"

"No! Help me get him over there." Together, Slade and Walters dragged Cooter over to a wooden support column and shoved him down to the floor. Slade tied his already bound hands to the beam while Walters bound his feet together.

"That'll do for now," Walters said, pulling Slade aside. "Now look. As long as he's in here, you can't go shooting your mouth off. The Duke boys will find him eventually, so watch what you say or they'll find out all about the plan. And we _don't _want that, right?"

"I know what to do!" Slade said, glaring at Walters. "I'm not stupid!"

_Well, that's one person's opinion,_ Cooter thought. He twisted his hands, trying to get them free of the ropes. Unfortunately, Slade seemed to be able to tie a good knot, even if he couldn't do anything else right. The ropes refused to give, and soon Cooter could feel warm, wet blood start to drip down from his wrists where the rope bit into his skin. _Come on, Bo and Luke. Hurry up, buddies!_

Meanwhile, Bo and Luke had run over to see Daisy at work, thinking maybe she'd seen some strangers come in to town. Maybe if they could find whoever drove the truck for Boss, they could follow them to their hiding place. Being a weekend in the middle of summer, however, the Boar's Nest had had a dozen strangers pass through. Daisy had an excellent memory though, and took almost half an hour describing everyone she'd seen in great detail. They sat outside behind the Boar's Nest – since the boys were trying to keep out of sight – as Bo and Luke listened carefully. Unfortunately, they didn't recognize any of the descriptions she gave.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to go back to lookin' the old fashioned way," Luke said. "Just keep an eye out and an ear open, will ya Daisy? Call us if ya hear anything."

"No problem, Luke," his pretty cousin answered, patting his arm. "I just know y'all are gonna find that truck though, don't worry."

"Thanks, Daisy," Bo called smiling as he and Luke jumped back into the General.

_Now did y'all catch that right there? When Bo just jumped into his seat there, he accidentally kicked the CB knob and done turned it off. I'm bettin' that's gonna cause problems. What do y'all think?_

"Well, where do you reckon we oughtta start?" Bo asked as he pulled out of the Boar's Nest parking lot.

"Anywhere's just as likely as the next," Luke answered with a shrug. "Let's just start drivin' and see what turns up." Bo nodded and the General Lee sped down the road.

Over an hour later, however, the boys were still no closer to finding the armored truck. In the middle of a hot summer day, doing nothing but basically driving in fruitless circles, both Bo and Luke were starting to get cross. They had stayed clear of the main road to avoid Rosco or Brooke, figuring Boss wouldn't hide an armored truck along the main road of Hazzard County anyways. Of course, that also meant they never saw Cooter's truck, or they might have gotten worried a lot faster.

"You know, that truck might be long gone by now," Bo complained for the tenth time.

"Bo, I done told you already! If Boss Hogg is tryin' to make us look guilty, he ain't gonna hide the truck farther away then we coulda driven it. It's gotta be close by somewhere."

"What if it ain't in Hazzard though? If he put it over in Chickasaw or Choctaw county, then he could add crossin' the county line to the charges soon's we try an' go after it."

"You may have somethin' there," Luke said frowning. It was a very typical move for Boss to make…. making it impossible for the boys to clear their name without breaking probation in order to do it. "If that's what this is, though, we cain't go lookin' for it anyways or we'd be playin' right into his hands."

"So what do we do?" Bo asked in frustration. His cousin turned to him with a smile.

"Maybe _we_ can't cross the county line, but Cooter could do it for us." He reached for the CB. "Hey Crazy C, ya still out there, buddy?" Luke waited for an answer, but none came. It occurred to him then that they hadn't heard from anybody since they were arrested. "I wonder where everybody is… I mean, don't ya think we should have heard back from _someone_ by now?"

"Try a different channel," Bo suggested, not taking his eyes off the road. Luke reached down to the CB panel and stopped short when he saw that it was turned off.

"Well, dang, Bo! No wonder we ain't heard from nobody! Dang thing ain't even on!"

"What?" Bo asked incredulously. "Well, how did that happen?"

"Don't know, but I hope nobody's been tryin' to reach us," Luke commented as he flipped the switch back on. His timing was dead on – Deputy Calloway was just about to give up on the boys.

"Calling the Lost Sheep….still. Lost Sheep, for crying out loud, where _are_ you?" Brooklyn slammed down the microphone in disgust. Usually her face was a carefully placed mask which hid her emotions, but no one was around to notice as it fell away. It had been almost two hours since she intercepted the CB call between Boss and whoever he was talking to. She had been trying to call the two Duke boys ever since, but they were either ignoring her or nowhere near a CB.

"Forget where are they, where am I?" she muttered to herself. As much as she absolutely hated to admit it, Brooke was utterly and terribly lost. She had started heading back to town as soon as she heard that Cooter was in trouble, but she had turned down the first road heading east, which she was positive was the direction back to town. Unfortunately for the new deputy, a road going east in Hazzard County was likely to suddenly turn west without warning, and now she wasn't even sure she was _in_ Hazzard County.

_See folks? This is exactly why ya don't have New Yorkers drive by themselves in small towns. Now don' get me wrong… that Brooklyn is a mighty good driver. In the city, I bet she could drive rings around even ol' Bo and Luke. But out here on dirt roads that ain't set up in blocks and grids, that poor girl has gone two counties over and back again without realizin' it._

Back in the General, the call finally came through loud and clear. "Calling the Lost Sheep…still. Lost Sheep, for crying out loud, where _are_ you?"

Bo looked at Luke in confusion. "Who the heck is that?" he asked. Luke shrugged.

"One way to find out," he answered, picking up the CB mike. "Yeah, you got two Lost Sheep here. Who's this?"

There was a pause, followed by an agitated sounding response. "This is… North Star. It's about bloody time you answered. I think you two boys might be short one mechanic."

"Damn it!" Luke swore, pounding the dashboard with his fist. He switched the CB channel over to the one that Cooter used most frequently and started trying to hail his friend while Bo kept driving, watching with a worried expression.

"Hey, Crazy C, ya out there, buddy? Come back, Crazy C, this is Lost Sheep One." He waited a moment, but was met only with silence. Changing to each of the channels in turn, he repeated the call. "Come on, Cooter, where you at?" he demanded. "Dang, he's not answering."

Before he could figure out what to do next, however, Luke was pitched forward in the General as Bo slammed on the brakes.

"Bo! What are ya-"

"Look!" Bo interrupted, pointing at an adjacent road that was just barely visible through the trees. Luke turned to where his cousin was looking.

"Oh no." His heart fell as he saw Cooter's tow truck sitting in the middle of the road, quite empty. Bo carefully steered the General Lee down the other road and stopped next to his friend's truck. Climbing out, they walked over to inspect it.

"Whadya think?" Bo asked in concern. Luke stooped down to examine the ground. There were quite a few footprints around as well as tire marks, but they were all so mixed up that it really didn't tell him anything.

"I don't know," he said finally. "From the way the truck is, sittin' across the middle like that, I'd say he found that armored truck and tried to stop whoever was drivin' it. Don't guess it worked though. Looks like they got him." He stood up and looked around slowly. "Anyway, he ain't here. That's the only thing we know for sure. Ain't no point stickin' around."

After moving Cooter's tow truck off the road where they could come back for it later, the Dukes jumped back in the General and headed down the main road.

"What do we do now?" Bo asked. "We have to find Cooter first."

"Nah, my guess is when we find that armored truck, we find Cooter. Problem is, we're back where we started. They could be anywhere by now. Heck, we don't even know if they went this direction or the completely opposite way."

"Maybe that was them on the CB," Bo offered. "Call them back, maybe they want somethin'."

Luke stiffened in his seat. "No, I know who that was." He glared out the window. "Think about it Bo. North Star. Now, who do we know who wears a star badge on her chest and comes from the north, from some place like _Brooklyn?"_

"What?" Bo scoffed. "Oh, come on, Luke You ain't thinkin' Brooke's a part of all this? You really think she's got Cooter?"

"I'm about to find out!" Leaning over, Luke switched the CB back to it's original channel.

"This is Lost Sheep, calling North Star," he hailed. "North Star, are you still there? Come back."

He held his breath as he waited for a response. It didn't take long to come crackling through.

"North Star here. Lost Sheep, what happened? I lost you again."

"Look, quit playin' games with us!" Luke snarled into the mike. "Where's Cooter?"

There was another pause. "Well, I'm not entirely sure–"

"Not entirely sure? Look, you'd better start talkin' and fast! We don't take kindly to folks who make our friends disappear. I know who this is, _North Star_. Now what did you do?"

"Woah, woah, woah. You guys don't really believe I would do anything to hurt Cooter, do you? Look, I overheard a CB conversation about your friend and thought I'd pass it on so you could go get him. Now do you want my help or not?"

"Oh…" Luke blinked, at a loss for words and feeling a little ridiculous. He hated the way Brooke always managed to make him feel like a darn fool every time he yelled at her.

"Sorry, North Star. Guess I'm just worried is all. Please... where is he? Who's got him?"

"I don't know who they are, but it was Boss Hogg they were talking to. All he said for sure was that they were heading to a mill somewhere in Choctaw county. And boys… you'd better hurry. It's been over two hours now."

"What?" Bo yelped. He turned to Luke in despair. "But there's dozens of mills in Choctaw. We ain't never gonna find him!"

"They were also talking about a railroad that's close by. Does that narrow it down any for you?" Brooke continued as if answering Bo. Luke sighed in relief.

"It sure does, North Star. What's your 20?"

There was another pause, then the deputy answered, sounding unusually forlorn. "I'm…. I'm not actually sure at the moment. I think I just passed a sign saying 'Welcome to Hazzard County' though. Do you realize that _none _of your roads actually have road signs?"

Luke managed with difficulty to answer without laughing. "If you jus' came from another county, you're on the main road right now. It's the only one that leaves Hazzard. Just stay on that road all the way through town, and Choctaw will be on the other side, ok?"

He paused, then continued. "Um….sorry about snappin' at ya. Guess I ain't as rid of that prejudice as I thought I was. And… thank you. I mean it."

The reply came back surprisingly gentle. "Don't worry, Lost Sheep. I've earned everything you've yelled at me since we met. Just go get Cooter, ok? I don't want anything to happen to him. I'm on my way, but I can't say how long it'll take me to get there."

"10-4. Over and out." Luke turned to Bo, a look of determination in his eyes. "There's only one mill that's anywhere near a railroad in Choctaw County."

"I'm on it, cuz," Bo answered, swinging the General Lee around in a 180 and heading back down the main road that would take them to the armored car and, hopefully, Cooter.

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_A/N: Ok, time for more reviews! Please guys, help out! Thanks y'all!_

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	6. Caught Again

_A/N: Hey everybody, sorry it took so long to update. Midterms were kicking my butt, and I didn't have a lot of time... hope you enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: don't own, except for Brooke._

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Chapter 6 – Caught Again 

Deputy Brooklyn Calloway's tiny patrol car was zipping down the main road of Hazzard County as she listened in on Boss Hogg's conversation with Slade. She was glad it was the dumber of the two crooks talking this time… Walters seemed to be a bit more careful about giving away information over the air waves, even if the CB channel _was_ usually deserted.

"Boss, how much exactly are me an' Walters makin' off your little racket here anyhow?"

"Enough to make it worth your while, don't you worry. You'll get your forty percent."

"Forty percent? Boss, you low down swindler! The deal was for fifty!"

"Yeah, it was. But you two nearly screwed everything up when you let Cooter find you. You done got me all stressed and worried, so I'm takin' another ten percent for emotional damages."

Brooke stared at the CB, wondering whether that was more amusing or simply pathetic. Of course, when she reflected on what she knew of Boss Hogg, she could hardly be surprised.

"That's down-right robbery and you know it, Boss!" Slade's voice came back sounding mad enough to spit nails.

"Robbery, is it? Funny you should mention that, Slade. 'Cause robbery is exactly what you two boys done, and my sheriff is only a minute away from y'all if I should suddenly decide to have him arrest you. So it seems to me that you'd just want to take your share and be happy with it."

"Fine," Slade answered after a pause. "But if you try and double-cross us out of any more, you'll be sorry you did. We'll head for the abandoned train station in Chickasaw County and meet you there tomorrow then."

"Good, good. I'm gone."

Brooke was deep in thought as she continued down the road. How could she benefit the most from this information? She smiled as an idea began to form in her head. She knew exactly what to do. Reaching for the CB, she changed to yet another channel.

"Sheriff Little, do you read me? This is Deputy Calloway from Hazzard County. Come back, Sheriff. I have some news that will make your day…"

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Meanwhile, Slade and Walters had not been idle. According to Boss's plan, they were supposed to just sit around and wait to be hunted down by the Dukes, but that somehow didn't seem like an ideal plan as far as they were concerned. Leaving Cooter tied to the post, the two henchman were instead working on the back door of the armored truck.

"Well, ain't no way we gonna be able to pick that lock," Slade muttered.

"There must be _some_ way of getting that open!" Walters said, pounding the truck with his fist in frustration. He paced in circles around the truck, stopping when he got back in front of Slade. "Hogg wants to return all those artifacts and stuff for the reward money. Do you know how much we could make if we had just a_ few_ pieces, which _we_ stole in the first place?"

"Enough to retire for a while," Slade said with an evil grin.

"Enough to retire for a _long _while," Walters corrected. "Everything in there is worth almost a million. If only we could get through that lock. Damn Hogg, anyways!"

"Whatever we're going to do, we'd best be hurryin'," Slade said. "It's been a couple hours now. If these boys are as good as Hogg says, they're gonna be comin' any time now."

"Right, we can't blow this now…"

"Walters, that's it!" Slade interrupted, looking at his partner in excitement. Walters just stared blankly back at him.

"What's it?"

"We can blow the door open. There's dynamite in the mill there!"

"You wanna blow up the truck? Slade, you truly are an imbecile. How the heck do you expect to get reward money for returning stuff that you've blown to smithereens?"

"No, not the whole truck. Just the lock off the back of it. Trust me, I learned this a long time ago," Slade said, rubbing his hands together as he studied the truck door in anticipation. "Yeah, I can do this!"

Walters eyed his partner, trying to determine the degree of insanity of the plan. "Do it," he said finally. "But hurry, we're running out of time."

Grinning like a small child at the chance to blow something up, Slade dashed back into the mill and returned shortly with a box of shaped charges, designed especially for tricky situations such as this.

"Slade, are you_ sure_ you know what you're doing?" Walters asked in concern.

"Course I know what I'm doin'," Slade answered in a huff. "Told ya, didn' I? I learned me all this years ago. 'Sides, anyone with half a brain could figure this out."

"Why am I not comforted?" Walters muttered to himself as he watched Slade position and reposition the charges, stepping back each time to examine his handiwork. After trying five or six various attempts, he settled on strapping the charges directly to the padlock itself. Slade motioned for Walters to duck behind the car as he lit the fuse and rushed to join him.

Both men stuck their fingers in their ears and closed their eyes tightly as the charges detonated. Slade held his breath as the smoke cleared, hoping that he hadn't actually blown up the truck on accident. He had never really even seen this done before, let alone doing it himself, but that was no business of Walters's anyways. Opening one eye, he gave a small sigh of relief to see the back door of the armored truck now dented slightly but still in one piece, though without the heavy padlock that had protected its contents.

_I ain't believin' this… that trick there actually worked! Guess ol' Slade ain't such a lost cause after all. Those two bad boys better get a move on though – the mill is only a minute from the Hazzard County border, an' Bo and Luke just passed it._

"Can you believe it?" Slade whooped. "It worked! C'mon, let's grab some of this junk!"

"Wait, wait!" Walters hushed him. "Do you hear that?" The crooks paused and listened, their heads cocked to the side. The sound of a car crashing through railroad gates and across the tracks could be heard loud and clear.

"Shoot, we're too late! Leave this stuff, that's our cue to get moving!" Walters yelled as they rushed back inside. "Call Boss, hurry!"

Slade ran over to the CB as Walters hurried to start the car. "Boss! The Dukes are on their way! Get your sheriff set up to get 'em!"

"He's already in place! You boys get yourselves out of there! You know where to meet me for your cut." Boss Hogg's voice came back.

"We'll see you there tomorrow! We're gone!" Tossing the CB down, Slade rushed over to join Walters, but stopped in his tracks when his gaze fell on Cooter, still bound helplessly to the wooden column but tugging defiantly on the ropes and glaring ferociously back at him. Feeling the bruises the mechanic had left on his face, Slade pulled out his gun.

"What about him?" he whined to his partner. "Can I shoot him now?"

"Forget about him!" Walters yelled from the car. "He's not important, now let's _go_!"

Shooting one last evil look at Cooter, Slade jumped in and they pealed out onto the road. Less than ten seconds later, the General came barreling up to the mill.

"Ok, stop us here, Bo." Luke said. "Be careful, don't forget they got Cooter in there somewhere."

Bo nodded and slid the General to a halt. Cautiously, both boys climbed out of the car, creeping up towards the door. Luke peeked in the window. The mill appeared at first to be empty.

"Cooter!" he yelled, catching sight of his friend. No longer concerned whether the building was empty or not, he and Bo burst into the room.

"Cooter, you ok?" Bo asked in concern as he pulled the rag out of Cooter's mouth. Cooter coughed and licked his dry lips.

"Yeah," he rasped as Luke pulled out his knife and sliced through the ropes that bound his friend's hands and feet. "I'm fine. Sure am glad to see y'all though."

Luke winced as he saw the bright purple bruise forming around Cooter's left eye. "Looks like ya got into quite a fight there, buddy."

"You should see the other guy," Cooter grinned crookedly. He rubbed at his wrists, which were raw and bleeding from struggling for hours with the coarse rope. "There's two of 'em, but only one was drivin' the truck. They both left in a car, not more'n a couple seconds 'fore y'all busted in. An' it was Boss that's behind all this. I heard 'em talkin' to him on the CB."

"They left the truck here? Where?"

"Right out back," Cooter answered, pointing. Luke looked out where he was pointing to. Sure enough, there sat the elusive armored truck. The boys headed out to inspect it. Luke noted with satisfaction that the keys were still in the ignition.

"We'd best be hurryin' to get this back to Hazzard. Bo, you take the General, me and Cooter'll get this here truck."

"You got it, cuz," Bo said with a grin as he ran back to the General.

Luke and Cooter climbed up into the cab of the truck. Turning the ignition, Luke couldn't help but wonder uneasily why the truck had been so readily abandoned, but he pulled out onto the road heading back to Hazzard County with the General trailing behind.

_Now friends and neighbors, you're about to see history in the making. Rosco is sittin' right on the other side of the county line waitin' for ol' Bo and Luke, and danged if he ain't about to catch 'em for the second time in one day. Now friends, I'd say right about now, Rosco can die happy._

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"Luke, look out!" Cooter yelled as Rosco suddenly jumped out of the bushes onto the road in front of them.

"Hang on!" Luke yelled, braking and pulling the bulky truck around as hard as he could without flipping it over. He came to a sliding sideways to a screeching halt only a few inches away from bulldozing Rosco.

Luke and Cooter jumped out of the truck and hurried over to the sheriff, who had his eyes shut tight and his arms thrown around his head in anticipation of a collision.

"Rosco!" Luke yelled as Bo pulled up in the General and climbed out to join them. "What are ya standin' in the middle of the road for?"

Opening his eyes slowly, Rosco looked around in apparent shock that he was still alive. "Now Luke, I oughtta add attackin' a police officer to your charges!"

"What? I wasn't attackin' you, you jumped out in front of me!" Luke answered angrily.

"Hush!" Rosco said in irritation. "You just… hush!" Another siren came wailing around the bend as Enos circled around behind the boys. Boss Hogg pulled in after him, stopping behind Rosco..

"Oh great," Bo sighed as he draped an arm on Luke's shoulder. "Cousin, I think they got us again."

"Boy, you catch on real quick," Luke muttered.

"Rosco!" Boss yelled as he climbed out of his white car. "Check the back! I wanna know what these dirty Dukes was carryin' in my truck!"

Rosco walked around to the back of the truck and pulled open the unlocked doors, revealing the treasure trove of stolen museum artifacts.

"Oooo, shame shame!" he said gleefully. "Look what they got back here, Boss,"

Boss Hogg pretended to gasp in shock. "My my! I never thought you Dukes would stoop that low," he said unconvincingly. "Don't you know that those are priceless artifacts you got back there? Ain't you got no respect for history?"

"Possum on a gum bush!" Enos exclaimed, stepping out of his car. "Boss Hogg, ain't this the stuff from the museums that's been on the news?"

"It sure is, Enos. And who would have guessed it would be the Dukes behind it?"

"Oh, come on now, Boss, you know darn well they didn't do that," Cooter said, coming to his friends' defense.

"What's this _they_, Cooter?" Boss asked with a smile. "Looks to me like we caught all three of you red-handed. You're as guilty as they are! Rosco, arrest 'em."

"Khee khee! Gonna cuff ya an' stuff ya," Rosco chuckled, putting the cuffs on Bo and moving to Cooter.

"I'm awful sorry about this, Luke," Enos said sadly as he cuffed Luke's hands behind him.

"Don't worry about it, Enos," Luke said with a sigh. He looked over at his cousin and his friend, and noted with concern the grimace on Cooter's face as the handcuffs closed tightly on his already sore hands. Although he had wiped the blood off, they had started to bleed freely again.

"Oh, come on, Rosco!" Bo said angrily. "Don't cuff Cooter, look at his wrists!"

"You just hush!" Rosco snapped. "I'm the sheriff, I'll cuff whoever I want to."

Before Bo could retort, another car could be heard coming up the road at top speed. Everybody jumped backwards out of the way as, to Bo and Luke's relief, Brooke's patrol car came skidding to a halt beside them.

"Well, it's about time you showed up," Rosco complained as she climbed out of the car. "Where've you been?"

"I got here as fast as I could," Brooke answered, shrugging. Bo tried to catch her eye, but the deputy refused to meet his gaze. "Is this all of them?"

"Yes sirree Bob," Boss replied. "here's our criminals right here."

"Boss, we know you're up to tricks again. We ain't dumb, you're just plantin' evidence on us." Bo said angrily.

"Why, Bo Duke!" Boss exclaimed, pretending to sound insulted. "How could you believe I'd do such a horrible thing? We're doin' this the fair way. We ain't gonna touch nothin' – the FBI is on their way here to take care of the investigatin'. Enos, have we been tamperin' with the General Lee or the truck?"

"No, sir, Boss," Enos answered.

"Of course not! Now Enos, you're gonna stay here and guard the truck until the FBI shows up. Y'all _do_ trust Enos now dontcha?"

"Y'all can trust me, fellas," Enos said seriously. "I ain't gonna touch it or plant no ev'dence or nothin'."

"Yeah, that's great, Enos." Luke said, shaking his head. He knew it also meant that they wouldn't be able to claim that Boss had tampered with the crime scene. Enos would truthfully say that he had seen the Dukes driving away in the truck and that he himself had guarded it ever since. Boss was using their own friend's trustworthiness against them, and since nobody else had seen the truck before it was in the Duke's possession, any court would find them guilty.

"Hey wait a minute, ain't anyone gonna go after the other two guys?" Bo protested. "What about the ones who kidnapped Cooter, doesn't anyone want to find them?"

"You're makin' that up," Boss answered. "We ain't got time to go off searchin' for imaginary criminals when we got three real ones right here."

"Imaginary?" Cooter repeated in indignation. Luke finally managed to catch Brooke's eye, but she quickly looked away again.

"What about you, deputy?" he asked quietly. "Ain't ya gonna do nothin'?"

Slowly, her piercing gray eyes traveled back over to Luke, where she steadily held his gaze and waited. "Nope," she finally answered easily.

"Nope?" Bo gasped. "You – "

"Alright, enough jabberin'." Rosco said, tugging Bo's arm. "You Duke boys, let's go. Deputy, I'll take these two criminals and you take Cooter."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Sheriff?" Brooke asked in concern, still eyeing Luke carefully.

"Uh, whatdya mean?"

"Those two boys, they're slippery. Maybe we should split them up so they don't try anything tricky."

Bo and Luke both glared mutinously at Brooke, Luke shaking his head in disgust. How they could have started to trust her _again_ was beyond either of them. Rosco looked a little confused by her idea, but Boss Hogg laughed.

"Rosco, I like this girl! She's got brains about her. That's a fine idea, Brooklyn honey. You go ahead and do that."

Brooke smiled her gorgeous smile at Boss, then turned to the Dukes. "Alright, Luke. You come with me and Cooter. Rosco can take Bo."

"Forget it," Bo said. "You ain't splittin' us up."

"That wasn't a request," Brooke said evenly.

"Look, Miss Brooklyn," Luke said. "Me and Bo are stickin' together, and that's that."

Brooke's face remained impassive, but her voice got soft and low, and she leaned in so only Luke could hear her.

"You listen to me, Duke. If you want what's best for your cousin, you'll get in my car. Now."

Luke stood for a moment without answering. He very briefly considered flat out refusing, but unlike his more impetuous cousin, he knew when it wasn't worth the fight. It wasn't like they weren't going to the same place anyways, but he didn't like being separated, and he definitely didn't like taking orders from a backstabbing Yankee. Without much of a choice, however, he shot one last look at Bo then allowed the deputy to put him in the back seat of her car with Cooter.

_Boy, I ain't likin' the way this thing is turnin' out. Y'all stick around and see what happens next._

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_A/N: Hey guys, please review, tell me what you think. It really helps me out. Thanks y'all!_


	7. Set in Motion

_Disclaimer: don't own 'em. except Brooke. she's mine.

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_Chapter 7 – Set in Motion

"I knew you weren't no good," Luke said scathingly as the tiny patrol car barreled down the road behind Rosco and Boss. "We was right the whole time. Never should have trusted no Yankee anyways."

In the front seat, Brooke continued to ignore him, as she had been for the past half hour. Boss Hogg, eager to get the boys put away, had instructed Rosco to take them straight to Atlanta himself. Caught red-handed with the evidence, Luke knew there was very little chance that they would be able to get themselves out of trouble this time. Jesse and Daisy couldn't help, because they didn't even know what was going on. He had been to war, the idea of being in jail didn't bother him too much. But his stomach twisted at the thought of Bo in the Atlanta jail, and also at the thought of his family finding out what had happened. Jesse and Daisy deserved better.

"What in tarnation did we ever do to you, anyway?" he continued. "What are you gettin' from this? Boss givin' you a cut of Rosco's cut of the profit, is that what it is?"

"Luke, will you be quiet for a minute, please?" Brooke asked, unperturbed. "I need to focus right now."

"Oh, you need to_ focus_. Let me tell you somethin', lady –" Once again, Luke was thrown forward before he got to finish his thought. As Rosco and Boss disappeared around a large curve in the road, Brooke spun the car around, sped back down the way they had been coming, then took off along a side road.

"Ow! Hey, what the heck are you doin'?" Cooter asked as he was thrown painfully into Luke. "This ain't the way…"

"I know," Brooke said calmly, checking her mirrors and swerving down yet another new road. "I don't think they saw us."

"Saw us? What's goin' on?" Luke asked angrily. "Come on, stop the car before you get us all killed!"

Compliantly, Brooke slammed on the breaks, throwing Luke and Cooter forward again, unable to catch themselves due to the handcuffs.

"Ow! What –"

"Happy?" Brooke asked with a rare grin. "You're right, though, this looks good right here." Turning off the engine, she got out and opened the back seat doors.

"Come on, get out."

Luke looked at her suspiciously. He was finished with trusting this girl, and tried to figure out what trick she might be up to now. Whatever it was, he was sick of her games.

"Why, so ya can make it look like we tried to escape?"

Sighing in frustration, Brooke pulled Luke out of the car, then reached back in to help Cooter out. "Look, I know it looks bad, but you're going to have to trust me if you want to get yourselves and Bo out of this mess."

"Trust _you?_" Luke protested. "It was _you_ that done got us into this!"

"Yeah, if you think we're gonna trust ya after everythin' you've done, you ain't as bright as ya think you are," Cooter added. "Why should we?"

"Because, I can get you out of this," Brooke answered patiently. Unhooking her keys, she turned Luke around and undid the handcuffs. "Now, if you don't want my help, that's fine." Moving on to Cooter, she gingerly removed the cuffs from his bloodied and tender wrists, much to his relief. "If you want to run now, I won't try to stop you. But the FBI is on their way, and if you _don't_ let me help you, you'll have an awfully hard time proving your innocence."

The two boys watched, trying to figure out whether she was serious or not, as the deputy opened the trunk of the patrol car and retrieved the first aid kit.

"Cooter, come here," she commanded calmly. Grabbing out a bottle of antiseptic and a roll of bandages, she motioned for the mechanic to join her. "Give me your hands." Cooter shrugged at Luke and allowed Brooke to clean off his wrists and bandage them.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get those off sooner," she continued. "Are you alright, by the way?"

"Yeah, thanks," he answered, still confused, but starting to feel that they might not be done for just yet. "Look, if you don't mind me asking again, what the heck is goin' on? What are we doin' here?"

"We're waiting," Brooke responded, finishing off the bandages and slamming the car trunk again. "We're waiting to hear from Sheriff Little."

"Sheriff Little?" Luke repeated, eyes wide. "Why the heck would he be callin' us?"

"Because, Boss Hogg sent those two flunkies of his over to Chickasaw County to wait for him. I told Sheriff Little where to find them, and he was only too happy to take care of it. He'll even get them to the FBI for us. He'll radio me when they get there, but until then, you're still fugitives, so we can't go back yet. And no, you can't call for your Uncle Jesse or Daisy," she said as Luke opened his mouth to ask that very question. "Radio silence until Little calls. We're going to be waiting here for a bit so you might as well get comfortable."

"What about Bo?" Luke asked anxiously as the three of them found seats on the dusty ground by the road. "We need to get him out before they hit Atlanta."

"Bo will be fine," Brooke answered unsympathetically, leaning back against the car.

"No, he won't be!" the older Duke said angrily, slamming his hand into the patrol car. When Cooter and Brooke looked up at him in concern, he sighed and continued softly. "Look, Hazzard is one thing. But I don't want him anywhere near Atlanta jail. Ya know what it's like there… Bo ain't the kinda person who belongs in a place like that, especially if I ain't there to watch his back."

Brooke's face softened somewhat as she looked at Luke in pity. She admired his protectiveness of his younger cousin, and she felt a little bad for hiding her intentions from him.

"Well, that's exactly why I separated you two," she began to explain.

"Wait...you mean, ya sent Bo off on his own… on purpose?" Cooter demanded in disbelief.

"Now hold on a second, you two," Brooke said, putting her hands out defensively as the two boys moved threateningly towards her. "You have_ got_ to start trusting that I know what I'm doing, and that I'm doing what's best for you. Boss won't take Bo to Atlanta."

"Yeah? How do you know?" Luke challenged skeptically, balling his fists. If anything happened to his little cousin, he would personally tear Brooklyn to pieces.

"Because I know how Boss thinks." Brooke shot back. "As far as he's concerned, you and Bo are a package deal – it's all or nothing. He wants to bring in _both_ of you at the same time. Besides, do you really think he'd want to admit to the big guys in Atlanta that he lost one? No, until he's got _you_," she fired, jabbing a finger at Luke. "he'll take Bo back to Hazzard. _That's _why I separated you, because Bo will be safe as long as you're nowhere near him, and we need to buy Sheriff Little enough time to get the_ real_ criminals to the FBI."

Luke knew she was right. He hadn't looked at it that way before, but the fact was Bo _would_ be better off as long he stayed clear for a while. The thought was far from comforting. Cooter placed a hand on his friend's shoulder sympathetically.

"Don't you worry none, Luke," he said. "Bo's a Duke, ain't he?" Luke smiled slightly and nodded. Brooke saw with satisfaction that he was focused back in on the matter at hand, and continued speaking.

"Now, as long as we're waiting, we need to go over exactly what we're going to tell the FBI."

"It'd be a mighty big help if we knew exactly what kind of evidence Boss planted that we ain't gonna be able to say he planted," Luke pointed out.

"Oh, he put the keys to the back of the truck in the General Lee," Brooke said offhandedly. "That's not really the biggest concern…"

"You're mentioning this _now_?" Luke asked in irritation. "How long did you know that 'fore ya thought it was worth bringin' up?"

"Well, hold on jus' a minute!" Cooter jumped in. "That's easy enough to fix! Let's just get back over there and take the keys out before the FBI gets there!"

"You can't go back yet," Brooke insisted, ignoring Luke's question. "You're fugitives! Enos might be your friend, but he'd arrest you. And even if you got away from him, you'd be tampering with the crime scene anyways. Look, trust me. The keys are _not_ your real problem."

"Well, then what is?" Cooter asked impatiently.

"And what are we supposed to do about it?" Luke added.

Brooke hesitated, then leaned in. "Ok, look. Here's the plan…"

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It had taken Boss and Rosco an extraordinary amount of time to realize that the second patrol car was no longer driving behind them. Boss Hogg had led the triumphant parade out onto the road heading to Atlanta, with Rosco closely following him and Brooke bringing up the rear. They were well over half way to their destination before anyone figured out what had happened. It was a random horse trailer's fault… the truck had gone speeding by the sheriff through a puddle, which had splashed up through the open window and drenched Rosco with copious amounts of dirty water. As Rosco had sputtered and angrily turned to shake his fist out the window at the trailer, he suddenly realized that he was now the tail end of the caravan.

"Deputy Calloway, this is your superior officer speaking. Come back," he had yelled into the CB. "Brooklyn! Where did ya go?" Bo, sitting alone in the back of Rosco's car, had twisted around in his seat to watch the road behind him.

"Yeehaw!" he yelled. "Go, Luke! He done got away from ya _again_, Rosco!"

"You just….you…. hush, Bo Duke!" Rosco blustered angrily. "He couldn't have got away… not unless…. Oooh! Boss, come in, this is Rosco."

"Rosco, what in tarnation is goin' on back there?" Boss answered, having listened to Rosco's summons and consequent silence from Brooke. "Whaddya mean, where did Brooklyn go?"

"Well, that's just it Boss," Rosco said loudly, having to make himself heard over Bo's laughter. "They just went… poof! Her car ain't there anymore!"

"You mean you lost not only your own deputy, but two highly dangerous criminals too?" Boss demanded.

"Uh… yeah, Boss, I guess that's what I mean," Rosco said puzzled. He was suddenly forced to slam on the brakes as Boss pulled a 180 in the middle of the road.

"Turn around, you numbskull!" Boss shouted as he sped back towards Hazzard County. "Luke Duke is still on the loose! Get that cousin of his back to Hazzard!"

"Uh, wait, Boss. Shouldn't we go lookin' for them first? Why are we givin' Luke an' Cooter more time to get away?"

"Rosco, quit tryin' to think! It ain't workin' for you! Luke ain't gonna leave without Bo. You take him back to Hazzard and wait for _Luke_ to come to _you_."

"Oh, right! Khee khee! That's a big 10-4, little fat buddy!" Rosco spun around, though with less grace than Boss, which caused several cars behind him to swerve around him, horns blaring angrily. "Don't you threaten me," he muttered angrily out the window, then followed Boss back up the road.

In the back seat, Bo grinned triumphantly. Brooke had been stupid to take both Luke and Cooter… she should have known they would be able to overpower her, and it served her right, too! He wasn't sure what Luke would do next, but he trusted his cousin completely. Whatever happened, he would be ready for it.

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"Sounds like ya covered all your bases," Luke commented in admiration as Brooke finished explaining the plan to them. "But I have to wonder... you figured out how we's supposed to convince the FBI that them other two are the real thieves? I ain't thinkin' they're just gonna take our word on it."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that," Brooke answered slowly, frowning slightly. "That's why I needed Cooter with me. Now, I can prove that you boys and Bo had nothing to do with this, but all I have on Walters and Slade is a CB conversation that only I heard. That would never stand in court. Cooter, you'll have to give your statement to the FBI, and for now we'll just get them on kidnapping. That'll at least get them in jail while we figure out how to prove they did the truck too."

"I can do that," Cooter said agreeably. "But when we get back to Hazzard, I'm gonna teach Boss Hogg a lesson for startin' all this."

"You gonna have to wait your turn," Luke said darkly.

"No, we still need Boss Hogg too," Brooke said shaking her head. As much as she could understand the boys' loathing for the man, and as unsavory as she herself found him, she knew an opportunity when she saw one. "And that's where the real problem comes in. Luke, you and Bo _did_ legitimately break probation when you left Hazzard County. I know you had a good reason for it," she added hastily as Luke opened his mouth to argue. "But the fact is, you _did_break the rules, and we need Boss Hogg to clear you for that."

Luke chuckled dryly. "Oh yeah, I'm bettin' he's really gonna do that."

"For what it's worth, buddyro," Cooter said with a grin as he gestured at his swollen face, "I sure am glad y'all_ did_ break your probation. And when I see Boss I'll-"

"You won't do anything," Brooke interrupted. She was pretty sure the boys wouldn't actually hurt Boss Hogg – they didn't seem the type who would – but there was no harm in making sure. "I mean it, you guys. Leave things to me, I know what I'm doing. And Cooter," she said, turning to the mechanic. "as much as you and Boss may not like each other, he did save your life." She thought back to the short argument between Boss and Walters that she had overheard while switching rapidly between channels trying to find Bo and Luke.

_"Look, Hogg. I already told you, this guy has seen us. I don't like leaving loose ends laying around. I'm going to take care of him."_

_"You'll do no such thing!"_

_"Yes, I damn well will! Don't worry, Hogg. It won't come back to you. I know how to hide a body –"_

_"You listen to me. I said… leave…him…be! If Cooter winds up dead, the deal's off and you two ain't gettin' anything but the hoosegaw, you got that?"_

_"Alright, alright! We'll leave him alone. Don't see why you care anyways…"_

Brooke snapped back to the present. Cooter had no idea how close he had actually come to dying. "You do know Walters and Slade would have killed you, right? They wanted to… they were even about to. Boss Hogg is the one who stopped them. I know he has his faults, but he didn't want you to get hurt. You owe him something for that."

Cooter and Luke glanced at each other. They knew Boss well enough to know that he never truly intended harm to any of them, but it was hard to not be angry with the little fat man. Cooter was about to say something, when the CB crackled to life.

"Calling Deputy Brooklyn Calloway… this is Sheriff Little. Me and some important friends got a present for you, waiting at the truck stop."

Brooke turned to the boys and let another grin escape her stoic features. "All right boys, here we go!"

_Well, now Luke and Cooter know the plan, but the rest of y'all will just have to wait and see. I'm havin' fun. Ain't you?_

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_A/N: Hey, please review! It's my first story, so anything that would make it better would really help me out a lot. I'll take compliments OR criticism, just so long as it's helpful. Thanks guys! _


	8. Hazzard County vs FBI

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It makes a big difference getting feedback, and I really appreciate it!_

_Disclaimer: don't own.

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_

Chapter 8 – Hazzard County vs. FBI

"It looks clear. Ain't we gonna go in?"

"We can't be too careful. Just a wait another minute."

Cooter sighed. They'd been sitting there for five minutes already. He liked Brooke and everything, but when the Duke boys had a plan, it tended to include a lot more car chases, sneaking around, and more... _movement_, while Brooke's seemed to involve a great deal of sitting around waiting for something else to happen. Personally, he liked his friends' method of solving problems a lot better than hers. Brooke was being overly cautious, in his opinion. They had stopped just around the corner from the truck, where she could watch what was going on without being seen. Cooter assumed she was waiting for Sheriff Little to catch sight of them and sneak over without Enos, who apparently was out of the loop here, to see what was going on.

Meanwhile, Luke took the opportunity to study the area. He could barely see into Enos's car where the two crooks had been restrained and were sitting in the back seat. Enos himself was standing beside the car, blissfully unaware of anything, while Sheriff Little stood leaned against the truck itself. Luke couldn't see the FBI, but the doors to the armored truck were flung wide open and occasionally it would dip as with the shifting of weight inside.

After another minute had passed and they were nowhere closer to moving, Cooter finally lost patience. "Look, Sherrif Little's practically lookin' right at us!" he pointed out. "Flash your lights at him, Enos ain't gonna notice."

Taking the advice, Brooke flashed the lights quickly on and off, succeeding in getting the Sheriff's attention. Sensing the need for secrecy, Little moved casually down the road and ducked through the bushes hiding the car.

"Good, y'all made it," Little said. "I got them two boys for ya, Miss Brooklyn. Enos has 'em in his car."

"Thank you so much, Ed," Brooke said fervently. "I appreciate you doing all this."

"Oh, any ol' time. The FBI are pokin' around the truck for now, but they're gonna start on the General Lee any time now. What're ya gonna do next?"

"You know what we need?" Brooke said thoughtfully, not answering the question. "If we could distract Enos away from the crime scene, that would be great. I'd just rather not have him reporting to Boss, you know? I wonder who we could get to occupy him."

Luke tried hard not to roll his eyes. He didn't miss the subtlety or the careful casualness of her hint. Brooke was maneuvering Little to get Enos away for her, but the Chickasaw County sheriff didn't seem to notice. Or else, he just didn't care.

"I'll take care of Enos," Sheriff Little offered. He liked Enos much better than Hogg or Rosco. "I'll take him on down to Chickasaw County courthouse and show him around. He ain't never been there, I'm sure he'd like that."

"Thanks, Ed," Brooke smiled winningly at him. "I mean it, you've been an incredible help here. I owe you one."

"Aw, shoot, Miss Brooklyn, it wasn't no big thing," Little said with a chuckle. Luke nearly laughed out loud as he noticed that Sheriff Little was actually blushing. He shook his head in amazement as the sheriff stalked off with a definite spring in his step.

_Boy, I tell you what. That Brooklyn has Sheriff Little eatin' outta the palm of her hand. Let's just hope she can get the FBI to be as helpful._

"Excellent," Brooke muttered to herself as Enos and Sheriff Little conversed momentarily, then took off in the Chickasaw patrol car and disappeared down the road. Leaving her own car in the underbrush, she and the two boys got out and made their way towards the armored truck. One of the agents had just come out of the back and, on catching sight of the three, headed towards them.

"Ok, guys," Brooke began. "you know what to-"

As she was speaking, the words died on her lips. Luke and Cooter looked at her in uncertainty as she stared without moving at the FBI agent approaching them. As he drew near and got a look at her, the agent stopped short with an identical face of shock.

"Calloway?" he asked tentatively. "Calloway, is that you?"

"Bishop!" Brooke gasped back. "What are you… what the…"

"Calloway, it _is_ you! Hey, Markison!" the agent suddenly yelled over his shoulder, a wide grin forming on his face. "Markison, you'll never guess who I found!"

A second, younger looking agent walked around from behind the armored truck he had been inspecting. At the sight of Brooke, his jaw dropped and he rushed over to them. Luke and Cooter watched in shock as he grabbed Brooke in a bear hug and pulled her off the ground while she uncharacteristically shrieked in laughter.

"Brooke!" the younger man named Markison yelled as he spun her in circles. "I can't believe you're here!" He set her down gently on the ground. Brooke's face was flushed red with excitement.

"Me? What about you? I thought you two were in Los Angeles!"

"We were," Bishop said with a smile. "We were transferred out to Atlanta a couple months ago. But you? You said nothing would get you out of New York. What did they have to give you to move down here? And wait a minute," he suddenly said with a frown. "What are you wearing? A _deputy_ uniform? Calloway, why are you dressed like a local deputy?"

"Because I _am_ a local deputy, idiot!" Brooke said, laughing.

"You left the Bureau?" Markison asked in shock.

"Whoa, _what_? Wait just a minute!" Luke interrupted. He and Cooter were still standing slightly behind Brooke, watching the scene play out with faces of utter bewilderment. "_You're_ FBI?"

"Kind of," Brooke said with a guilty sort of shrug. She sighed at Luke's skeptical face. "I actually work for them as a profiler. You know… I analyze criminals and get into people's heads. I figure out how their minds work."

"Well, that sure explains how she's so good at playin' people," Cooter muttered to Luke, who nodded in agreement. Luke thought back to the first time they had encountered Brooke back at the farm. Her odd behavior made a lot more sense now. She had been analyzing them all, and apparently came out with a favorable impression.

Brooke turned back to Markison. "And no, I didn't leave the Bureau… I'm just… taking some time off."

"_This…_ is what you call vacation?" Bishop asked doubtfully, glancing pointedly at Luke and Cooter. The mechanic bristled in annoyance, but Brooke merely punched the FBI agent lightly on the arm.

"Stop it," she said lightly. "How am I supposed to be a good profiler if I've only been around New Yorkers? This isn't vacation, it's called _research_. And _they_ have more manners than _you_ do," Brooke teasingly said. "Speaking of manners," she added as an afterthought, "Bishop, Markison, this is Duke and Davenp- uh, I mean, Luke and Cooter. Guys, these two were my partners when I first joined the Bureau. They _abandoned_ me a year ago."

"We did not abandon you," Markison protested. "_You_ refused to leave!" Brooke smiled, but Bishop had a bigger concern.

"Calloway, you do realize that we're here to arrest these two, right?"

"No, look, they didn't do anything," Brooke argued. She punched Bishop on the arm again as he raised his eyebrows in clear disbelief. "Oh, come on! You know I wouldn't say that unless I was sure. I have proof, but we'd waste less time if you'd just take my word for it. Look, _trust _me on this. The guys you want are sitting in the Hazzard County patrol car over there."

"I'd take your word for it," Markison said amiably. "But what are we supposed to do? We have a job here."

"You know what would be best for everyone?" Brooke answered thoughtfully. "If you guys would just go back to Atlanta and say you found the truck deserted by the side of the road, and let the local law take care of things here. Nothing that was stolen was very high profile, I doubt the Bureau will look too much into it as long as everything ends up back where it was."

"You want us to go back to Atlanta and _lie_ about this entire investigation?" Bishop asked in a tone that suggested he wasn't at all surprised about the suggestion. Luke found himself wondering if this was how Brooke usually handled things.

"I seem to recall you owe me a favor," Brooke said gently. Bishop looked away and sighed. "I didn't want to bring that up," she continued. "But if it'll help you sleep better, you don't have to lie. You can tell them that another FBI agent is taking care of things here, and I _was_ on this case before you two even got here. So by all rights, it _should_ be my investigation. All you have to do is deliver the truck and all the artifacts to Atlanta and see to it that they get back where they belong."

"Damn it, Calloway," Bishop groaned. "You know I hate it when you start manipulating us like that!"

"Hey, if it works!" Brooke said with a smile. Markison just grinned. Cooter got the distinct impression that he'd let Brooke manipulate him all she wanted.

"You know we have to take _something_ back," Bishop said, still sounding half amused and half annoyed.

"Brooke, what about Walters and Slade?" Luke suddenly asked quietly. "Your friends here can say you're handlin' this while they got caught up in a kidnappin' investigation. Them other two go to jail one way or the other, I guess it ain't gonna matter what they're there for."

Brooke thought about it for a minute, her gray eyes lighting up. "Luke, you're a genius!"

"Yeah, about time you realized that," Luke joked as Brooke looked pleadingly at her old partners.

"Would you two be willing to do that for me? I'll take care of things here, you know I'll do whatever it takes –"

"To see that justice is done," the other two agents finished with her, apparently having heard the motto multiple times before. Bishop still looked hesitant, but Markison was obviously all for the plan.

"Well, Bishop?" she asked, widening her beautiful gray eyes and putting on her most charming smile. The older agent sighed and nodded.

"Alright, Calloway, but this puts us even."

"Fair enough," Brooke said agreeably as Bishop started back towards the car. She turned to Markison. "It really was great getting to see you guys again. Keep in touch, ok?"

"Same to you," Markison answered, giving Brooke another hug. "And Brooke? Come back to the FBI soon, will you? Maybe you can get transferred to Atlanta with us and save me from this loser Bishop here."

"We'll see," Brooke answered with a smile as the two FBI pulled Walters and Slade out of Enos's patrol car and into their own. Then Markison hopped into the truck – he would drive it back to Atlanta where they could sort through all the missing artifacts – and both the car and the truck rolled past. Slade made a face out the window at Cooter, who smiled and waved mockingly back at him.

Luke, meanwhile, had been holding his breath, and sighed in relief as the FBI agents pulled onto the road and turned towards Atlanta, leaving him alone with Cooter and Brooke.

"It worked!" Cooter exclaimed as the dust settled. He sounded a little surprised.

"Yes," Brooke answered triumphantly. "Yes, it did. You two did great, by the way. That gets the FBI out of here, now we just have to talk to Boss. You ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," Luke answered. "Let's go."

So far the plan had worked perfectly. Basically, all Luke and Cooter had needed to do was stand there and act shocked when Brooke let it out that she was an FBI agent. Not that _that_ had been incredibly difficult, seeing as they already were in shock from when she had explained all of this in her plan.

Even more surprising, of course, was that out of all the FBI agents employed in Atlanta, they had the strange fortune to wind up seeing Brooke's old partners. Brooke had called headquarters to confirm the deployment of agents to Hazzard, and in doing so happened to get the names. Realizing how this could work to her advantage, Brooke had quickly formed the plan to get them out of the way. Her performance, Luke thought, was award worthy. He would never have guessed that Brooke already expected to see her old partners when Bishop appeared from behind the truck.

After that, everything fell into place. According to plan, Luke had pretended to come up with the great idea to use Walters and Slade as an excuse to leave the main investigation with Brooke. As she had explained it, her friends knew her well enough to expect some trick like that from her, and it would seem more credible if Luke suggested it. If Brooke had proposed the idea, it would seem like that was what she had wanted the whole time. Which, of course, it was.

Luke felt a little odd about the entire affair though…Brooke didn't show the slightest sign of remorse in taking advantage of her old friends to meet her own ends, especially considering that one of them would apparently bend over backwards for her if she had simply asked him to. The manipulation just didn't seem necessary to him and he felt a little uncomfortable with it. Of course, it was Brooke's show, not his. He was just grateful that she was doing all of this to help them and Bo, and so he and Cooter had followed her plan to the letter.

Getting the investigation back into Boss Hogg's jurisdiction, which Brooke had evidently believed to be the biggest obstacle, was only half of the plan. They still had to somehow convince Boss to drop the charges, both of grand theft and of breaking probation, either one of which could still get them a great deal of time in Atlanta. Brooke seemed to have some idea of how she was going to try that, but had yet to explain that part of the plan to Luke and Cooter.

It all came down to the fact that he, Bo, and Cooter had been caught red-handed with the truck, and the keys which opened the back were apparently somewhere in the General Lee waiting to be found, but Brooke refused to let them retrieve the incriminating evidence. Luke couldn't understand why… of course, Boss was likely to convict them without any proof at all anyways, but it just seemed like keeping the keys was as good as admitting guilt. Brooke seemed to believe that this was no obstacle, however, and Luke and Cooter didn't really have any choice but to trust her at this point, whatever was going through her head.

Still, even Brooke admitted that everything was hinged on the keys. Now that the truck itself was on its way to Atlanta, the truck keys were the only evidence - they would single-handedly decide the fate of the three boys. And yet Brooke and the boys gave the General Lee a wide berth as they got back in her car and headed back to town.

_Now y'all, that girl's been pretty slick so far. I sure hope she has somethin' just as sneaky in store for Boss Hogg, 'cause he ain't as friendly as them two FBI boys were. What do you reckon is gonna happen next?_

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_A/N: I know I've kind of abandoned Bo for a while, but he'll be in the next chapter I promise! We're almost there, thanks to everyone who's stuck with this story. Again, please please please review! Thanks!_


	9. To Find A Key

_A/N: Ok, folks, here it is... the last chapter! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and supported the story. I really appreciate it. Hope you guys enjoy the end!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, except Brooke. No profit, just fun!_

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Chapter 9 – To Find a Key

As Brooke, Luke and Cooter were driving as fast as they could to get back to Hazzard, Bo was sitting in jail. Boss Hogg and Rosco had at first decided against alerting Enos to the problem, not wanting their only remaining deputy to leave the evidence unguarded. When they finally decided to radio him to find out whether or not the FBI had discovered the hidden keys, however, they had suddenly found that he too was unreachable. Boss was getting impatient and cranky, and so he took out his anger on the youngest Duke.

"You just watch, Bo Duke! I'm shipping you off to Atlanta jail with or without Luke. An' you can just rot away there knowin' your own cousin abandoned you. Imagine, you're own blood kin, leavin' you here to take the fall all by yourself. Whadya think about that, hmm?"

"Ooooo, I love it I love it," Rosco chuckled. He was finding it hard to believe that they had finally got the Dukes. Or, at least, one of them.

Bo hunched over, leaning his head against his knees miserably and trying to shut Boss Hogg out. He wished Uncle Jesse was there to make Boss leave him alone, but he hadn't been able to reach him with his one phone call. Assuming that his uncle was just out working and away from the telephone, Bo had asked Rosco if he could trying getting him on the CB or if he could try calling Daisy at the Boar's Nest. Instead, the sheriff had gleefully informed him that he only got one phone call, and that it wasn't Rosco's fault that nobody cared enough about Bo to answer.

So Bo was left to sit in the cell alone with his thoughts. He couldn't figure out where Luke and Cooter had disappeared to, but he could only hope that they had somehow gotten away. He trusted Luke completely, of course – he knew that there was no way his cousin would really have abandoned him there, no matter what Boss said. But he also knew that there was very little chance that they could actually prove their innocence. Boss had done his dirty work well. The evidence against them was overwhelming.

"Yes sirree Bob, I tell you what," Boss continued happily. "I'm gonna make sure you get at least sixty years in the hoosegaw! Thirty for you, and thirty for that cousin of yours! Since he's left you to save his own hide, you can just do his time as well!

"No need, Boss!" Bo's head snapped up at the sound of another voice entering the room. His heart sank as he saw Deputy Brooklyn Calloway come strutting through the door, bringing Luke and Cooter in with her.

"Well, well!" Boss exclaimed in surprise, a smile of lively joy lighting his pudgy face. "Rosco, I tell you what, I oughtta fire you and put Brooke here in your place. Looks like she's the only one around here who can catch them boys!"

As Brooke stood there beaming, Bo tried to catch Luke's eye. His cousin looked at him briefly and, to Bo's surprise, smiled and winked comfortingly at him.

"Well, go ahead, Brooke honey. Go put these two in your car, and I'll have my dodo Sheriff here bring Bo out, and you can take 'em down to Atlanta. Then I can collect my reward!"

"Sure thing, Boss," Brooke said cheerfully. "Only thing is, I don't think you really want to do that."

"Whadya mean? I don't really want… why wouldn't… what the…." Boss stammered, confusion showing in his beady little eyes. "Deputy, arrest Luke and Cooter! They're wanted criminals!"

"Not until you hear me out, Boss." Brooke answered calmly. "If you listen to me, you may find that you'd really like to drop the charges against them and let them all go."

"Now look here, Deputy!" Boss growled, stepping in front of Brooke and getting in her face. His good mood was evaporating fast. "I gave you a direct order. Are you going to follow it or not?"

Brooke refused to back down, and merely smiled her gorgeous smile back at him, but even Bo could see there was no friendliness behind it this time. "Boss, I'll arrest them if you can prove that they stole all of those artifacts. But I think I can prove otherwise. Now, do you want me to do that here and now, or before the circuit judge when he comes along?"

"Judge? What are you… Rosco, arrest them!" Boss yelled.

"You got it, Boss! Alright there, Luke and Cooter. Come on now, you're under arrest!"

"Oh, I wouldn't do that," Brooke said, examining her fingernails like she didn't have a care in the world. Boss turned to her in anger. He was absolutely furious. The one deputy he had who could actually catch the Duke boys, and she was suddenly siding with them! It occurred to him then that she probably had been on their side the whole time. He would have to be sure to fire her. But in the meantime, his curiosity was getting the best of him.

"Go ahead, then! Prove they didn't do anything! You won't be able to, though!"

"Yes, I will. See, Boss, the funny thing about locks is that you simply can't open them without the keys. It keeps coming back to that… everything hangs on the keys."

"I know that," Hogg snarled. "And them Duke boys had the key! If you look in their precious General Lee, you'll find it! Wait… for that matter, why didn't the FBI find them?"

"The FBI didn't get the chance to look, Boss. I sent them home. But it wouldn't have mattered… Bo and Luke never had that key to begin with."

"Oh yes, they most certainly did!" Rosco interrupted indignantly. "I know for a fact they did because I'm the one who-"

"Ah, ah! Rosco!" Boss Hogg yelled angrily. He turned back to Brooke. "It ain't gonna matter. If'n the keys ain't there, it means they dumped the evidence, and without the evidence, you can't prove that they never had it at all!"

Brooke grinned, her emotionless front dropping suddenly as her face lit up. "Oh, but I can. I know exactly where that key is."

"You do?"

"Of course. Imagine, Boss, me watching you two pull up to the Boar's Nest, talking about putting the keys to some armored truck in a 'very special hiding place'. Then, imagine my surprise, when you and your sheriff there instead toss them into the back seat of a certain car… a car that I couldn't possibly mistake for any other, I might add. It's not exactly inconspicuous."

Boss froze. He didn't like the direction this was going in. Brooklyn had witnessed all that? Seeing his discomfort only made Brooke smile all the more mischievously.

"Well, Boss, I thought I'd go ahead and save you a whole lot of trouble. After all, keys to armored trucks are very valuable and shouldn't be thrown around so lightly. I thought I'd do you a favor and put them in a much more fitting hiding place. Like the vault with the brand new time lock in your very own Hazzard County Bank."

_You know, I like the way this girl thinks. Who said Yankees ain't good at bein' sneaky?_

Bo couldn't contain himself anymore. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAW!" he yelled with glee. How could he have ever doubted Brooke? He jumped to his feet and wrapped his hands around the bars of his cell. "Well, it sure looks like you've been outsmarted this time, Boss!"

"Well, now, just a minute, you…you can't prove that!" Boss said in desperation. "That don't mean nothin'! The vault might be safe when it's closed, but it's open during the day and it ain't _that_ hard to sneak past Emery! You still ain't got no case, an' the judge would agree with me... those Dukes could have got them keys outta that bank at any time!"

"No, no they couldn't, little fat buddy," Rosco suddenly said, sounding miserable. He cringed as Boss spun his way, his face turning a dangerous shade of crimson.

"Why not? Say, what's goin' on here, anyways?"

"Well, uh, ya see Boss, uh…. the thing of it is, well… I sorta… um….oo….well, I was showing Deputy Brooke here your fancy little time locked vault and… I tried to stop it, Boss, I really did! But the uh… the door to the vault… it….well, shoot, it closed, Boss."

"What did you say?" Boss asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"I'm sorry, Boss," Rosco said nervously, licking dry lips. "But, well, whatever is in there right now has been there since… well, since eleven o'clock this morning…"

"Rosco, you numbskull!" Boss shouted, throwing his hat down on the ground and stomping his feet. Foiled. AGAIN! It was the perfect plan, but of course it would have to be ruined. Ruined by the Dukes, a bumbling sheriff, and a Yankee deputy.

"I'm really sorry, Boss," Rosco muttered, upset to see how badly he had let down his little fat buddy. Brooke looked at him with pity in her gray eyes. Impulsively, she reached out and patted the sheriff on the arm.

"Don't worry, Rosco. You know, you weren't really the one who kick the vault door closed."

"I wasn't?" Rosco asked, perking up.

"Um… no. I did that. I'm sorry, I just made you think _you'd _done it so you wouldn't tell Boss. Because I knew you wouldn't want to make him mad."

"Oh! Khee khee! Well, I guess it's ok then!"

"Ooooo, no!" Boss seethed. "You can durn well guess again! I'm firing you! And I'm firing you," he said, glaring at Brooke. "Then I'm firing Daisy, and then I'm firing Emery, and… and… and all of Hazzard County! They're ALL fired! And then I'm having you Dukes arrested for _legitimatly_ breakin' probation and drivin' into Choctaw county."

"No, you aren't." Brooke responded, as serene as before. Bo stared at Brooke in astonishment. The sight of a deputy actually standing up to Boss was utterly foreign to him, and it seemed to him like she was really starting to push her luck.

"Oh, I'm not, ain't I? And what's to stop me?"

"Well, Boss, I must admit, I was kind of wondering the same thing. That was the hitch in the entire plan. It was Luke here who figured it out on the way over here. He's a smart one, you know."

"Oh? And what did Luke figure out?"

"Well, Boss, I'm new around here. I'd hate to jump to conclusions about you, but he pointed something out to me. Now you seem ready and willing to believe that only the ones with access to the truck keys could be implicated in this. Funny thing is, Boss, that you're the only one who could have possibly had the keys today. Luke says that vault _can_ be opened before tomorrow morning… but you're the _only_ one who can do it."

Brooke watched in pleasure as Boss Hogg swelled up in indignation and quickly melted back down, frowning as he realized that she was right. God, how she loved toying with him. It was really just too easy.

"That…that don't mean anything…"

"Sure it does, Boss. You didn't report that the truck and the keys were stolen until after I saw you put the keys into the General Lee. Now, the museums have been reporting the robberies for weeks, so obviously whoever did the actual stealing was stocking all those artifacts somewhere else, and just loaded them into the truck today."

Brooke wasn't smiling anymore, but glaring with deadly intensity as she continued. "It couldn't _possibly_ be the Dukes, because the key went from your hands to the General, and I got them out again not two minutes after that. You and me are the only ones who've even _touched _that key today, and _I _had only had it for five minutes between you sticking it in the General Lee and me sticking it in the vault. That leaves _you_. _You're_ the only one who could've gotten to them. And the judge will agree with _me_ on that."

Brooke paused as she let Boss catch up with what she was saying. When she saw the light starting to click, she laid down her ultimatum, her face again arranged into its usual blank smile and innocent eyes. "Now Boss, I'd hate to think you were just setting up these fine young men for something you knew they hadn't done. If I really believed that, I must admit I'd be truly tempted to call the FBI back up here and see what they think. So how do you think we should play this?"

Brooke, the Dukes, and Cooter all held their breath as they watched the cogs turning swiftly in Boss's mind. It didn't take him long to reach the obvious conclusion - the entire affair would be much more trouble than it was worth, seeing as how it didn't look like he'd be allowed to claim the reward any more. Boss wasn't an idiot… he could clearly see that Brooke knew exactly what had happened, and she apparently had a lot of weight with the FBI to have gotten them to back off earlier. But, if she was going to give him the chance to back out of the whole mess, he wasn't foolish enough to ignore it.

"Now, I ain't sayin' what you're sayin' is true, Deputy. I certainly did _not_ set up these 'fine young men'. I resent that you would even _consider_ such a horrible notion. But, I don't suppose it's really all that important, is it? Rosco, let Bo out. We're droppin' the charges."

"Uh, are you sure, Boss?"

"Rosco! Just do it!"

_Well, Boss Hogg had no choice but to let the Duke boys and Cooter go. Ain't that little Yankee somethin'? I tell you what, she done changed my mind about them. Seems like she changed ol' Bo and Luke's minds too, cause now they're all hangin' out at the Boar's Nest together like old friends._

"Here's to Brooke," Daisy said, raising her beer mug in a toast. "Best deputy we've had in an awful long time! Not counting Enos," she added hurriedly.

"Here, here," Uncle Jesse agreed as he raised his own mug. Brooke smiled and blushed somewhat.

"Thanks guys," she said, taking a sip of her water. Bo was amazed by what a difference it made to actually know the girl. She had been pretty before, even when they only saw the mask of her solid, blank face. Now that he could see she was actually friendly and at ease, however, her inner radiance shown through much clearer and she was definitely the most attractive girl in the bar.

"Well, boys," Uncle Jesse sighed as he stood. "I'm headin' back home. Don't you two be spendin' all night out here, ya got that?"

"Yes sir, Uncle Jesse," Bo answered with a smile. He had hoped to see the cute little girl…he thought he remembered her name might have been Chrys… who had occupied so much of his time earlier that morning, but she seemed to have disappeared. When he mentioned this in a complaining sort of voice to Luke, Brooke had just smiled knowingly and gone back to eating her popcorn.

Jesse stopped at the door and turned around. "And Miss Brooke, I jus' wanna thank you kindly again for what ya done for my boys."

Brooke smiled and nodded her head to him. "Thank you, sir. Glad I could help."

"I should go too, I gotta get back to work, y'all." Daisy said, also standing up. "Brooke, ya sure you don't wanna beer?"

"Sorry, Daisy, I have a long way to drive tonight." Brooke answered, regretfully.

Daisy nodded in understanding. "Well, sugar, I tell you what. Boss ain't too partial about us givin' out drinks on the house, but next time you're around, I'll buy one for ya."

"Thanks, Daisy," Brooke said with a friendly smile. "I'll keep that in mind. Next time I'm back this way, I promise to take you up on that." Daisy smiled and gave Brooke a hug before heading back up to the counter.

Brooke stood up and stretched, yawning. She turned to the two remaining Dukes, who were looking at each other, puzzled. "You boys want to walk me to my car?"

"Wait, whaddya mean 'next time you're back'?" Luke demanded as they headed outside.

"Yeah, where ya goin'?" Bo asked.

"Who knows?" Brooke answered with a shrug. "I was thinking I'd head on to Texas or Oklahoma for a while."

"You mean, you're leavin'? You ain't gonna be a deputy here no more? But you've only been here for one day! And Boss decided he ain't really firin' anyone!" Bo said, trying not to sound disappointed. Brooke wasn't fooled. She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling.

"He's not firing me, I'm leaving. I only came here to get experience working around people from different…um… geographical backgrounds. I think today was about as much experience as I could ever need. Though I must admit, it's been much different from what I expected."

"Yeah, I guess you ain't exactly what we thought you was neither," Luke admitted. "But somethin's been botherin' me… Brooke, ain't you at all guilty about usin' your old buddies the way ya did?"

At this, Brooke laughed outright. "Aw, Luke! Did you really think they didn't know what was going on? They're in the FBI, for crying out loud. They're smart guys, they caught on faster than you did. They know me well, we were partners for quite a long time. They know I would never ask them to trust me _that_ blindly unless I was damn sure I knew what I was doing."

She sighed as Luke eyed her skeptically. "Look, they just don't let on that they know what I'm doing because they don't want to encourage it. But you better believe they got it. 'Whatever it takes to see that justice is done'… don't worry, Luke they knew damn well what was going on. If I didn't believe that, I would never have taken advantage of them the way I did. I promise you that."

Luke nodded, satisfied. Reaching the car, Brooke stopped and turned to the two Duke boys. "Well," she said with a sigh. "I want to thank you both for a most interesting day. The Bureau doesn't expect me back for quite some time… who knows? Maybe I'll come back someday."

"Well, we wanna thank you, too." Bo said with a sad smile. "Thanks for savin' our hides. That was a close one for us."

Brooke smiled back, then impulsively gave each of them a hug. "What's the expression you all use?" she asked as she climbed into her car and shut the door. "Oh, 'keep between the ditches.' You may think luck is going your way, but things can change in a New York minute."

Bo and Luke smiled, waving as the strange deputy drove down the road and out of sight, taking with her the final rays of golden sunshine as the sun set over the tops of the trees. Bo draped an arm over his cousin's shoulder.

"Boy, I tell ya, Luke... that's quite a girl. Ya think she'll really come back sometime?" he asked, somewhat longingly. Luke eyed him, shaking his head.

"No tellin'. Looks like we're back to Rosco and Enos for now, though. Come on, I'll buy you another beer."

"Alright," Bo said, grinning as the two cousins walked back into the glowing light of the bar.

_And that, folks, is the story of how Boss was out-sneaked by a New York deputy. Of course, anytime you mix an armored truck, a corrupt lawman and his even more corrupt boss, a Yankee gal, and some good ol' boys, strange things are bound to happen… especially in Hazzard County._

**THE END**

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A/N: Ok, let me know what you think! Thanks again, you guys are great!_


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